Project Procreation
by charliedee
Summary: Population numbers in Vault 101 were dwindling, so the last resort, Genetic Pairing Program, will be implemented. Couples are forced to fill their quota of four children to help keep their residents from inbreeding. FLW never saw her one and only pair to be the man that tormented her through the years. No will not be taken as an answer. M for language and adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

_Project Procreation_

* * *

They were so used to the regulated vault routine, so when the intercom tapped into their ears loudly with the Overseer's stern voice saying there was a vault meeting, they exchanged glances before putting away their work. The meeting was to take place in approximately ten minutes, so with that, Janis sighed and saved her notes on her terminal with a simple click. "Dad, do you know what this is all about?" She glanced over her shoulder as her father, James, was bust helping a patient before the deadline, and that patient just so happened to be a badly scrapped up '_Serpent King_,' Butch DeLoria.

She simply ignored him as she always did, because through the years of his extensive tormenting it was the only thing you could do because any reaction you gave him would only add fuel to his fire. He eyed her from where he sat atop the metal medical examination table, her father finishing a quick stitch on a small knick on his collarbone. "You'll find out in a few minutes, sweetie." He answered through his teeth - she knew not to bug him while he was focused but she didn't really want to walk into a vault meeting and be completely surprised. She could see from the corner of her eye Butch giving her that signature jerk smirk, supposing it was because he saw her and her fathers relationship as a _daddy's little girl_.

"Alright." She stood up from the desk chair, straightened some notes on the surface, and strode over to the doorway, pressing the green button to slide the door open. "I'll be back when the meeting is over."

James grunted in response, cutting off the little loose threads on the stitches as the door closed behind her. Janis made her way down the hallway, a few residents walking together in a cluster as they made their way to the common room, chattering about as if this meeting was not fishy at all. She trailed them until she stopped quietly behind the Overseer, who was sternly speaking with his daughter in the doorway to the common room, Amata only nodding in a response, her head held low.

Once he left inside the room Amata sighed and leaned up against the wall, eyes looking up at the ceiling in deep thought. "Hey - Amata!" Janis waved a hand in front of Amata's face until she snapped out of it, forcing a famous fake smile she had for when she wasn't up to par. "Do you know what's going on? I don't ever remember having a vault meeting." It was even more suspicious that Amata looked more distressed than she usually was - and that was never a good sign, so a knot formed in her stomach.

"Oh, it's nothing.. Come on, let's go inside."

Janis nodded, swiveling on her heels and stepping into the slightly darkened atrium alongside her best friend, who directed them to the back of the room. Plastic vault-tec issued chairs were lined up in formal rows facing a metal podium. They sat in the back row, apologizing as they quickly shuffled passed some residents on their way into their row, finally taking their seats. She squinted as she stared up at the front, Alphonse pulling down a large white projector screen for some sort of presentation. "This is weird."

"Tell me about it." Amata wasn't all there, Janis could tell. She was trying her best to upkeep her regular personality but Amata was never a good actress or liar. Her fingers fidgeted on her lap, she was biting her bottom lip, and her brows were knitted together with concern. As the room filled with more bodies, the chatter grew louder, still, most people were oblivious to what was coming, hell, she knew she was going to be surprised.

Alphonse tapped the microphone that was attached to a small stand atop his podium, sending small fuzzy noises to hush the crowd. "Now, if we can begi-" His eyes strayed to the side as three bodies coolly entered the atrium.

"Stupid tunnel snakes." Amata rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, all eyes now wandering over to the trio who swaggered across in front of everybody, Butch of course in the lead with a stupid grimace on his face and his comb in his hair. They took the three available seats a row in front of them and off to the right.

"Now, if there will be no more interruptions." Alphonse looked around the room, specifically waiting for a Tunnel Snake outburst, but as the room was dead silent except a few whispers, he cleared his throat and picked up his cards. "Now.. I'm sure we have all been debriefed on our Vaults history, why we're here, our purpose in this vault, why we are so important to the Vault's future.." He stepped aside with the microphone and let the slideshow begin to play, a slow start at first with crackling noises emanating from the machine but several seconds later it played perfectly fine. What played were the usual slides of the End of the World, the bombs, the birth of the vault, blah blah blah. "Vault 101 is one of the smaller manufactured vaults, thus leading to a smaller population, as you all have noticed. This was never a problem in the past; however, it is proving to be something of note now. Population over the years have dwindled at an astonishing rate and the simplest way I can put this - is that if we do not do something about this, in a few generations times there will be no one left."

In a hushed tone, Janis glanced over to Amata, who looked increasingly stressed out. "Amata.. What's going on?"

"All I know is from what I saw on my fathers terminal-"

"Wait, what?"

"I only know of the plan-"

"What plan?" Janis gently gripped her friends forearm and Alphonse's voice thundered in the room.

"Vault-tec always has a plan for us." He began as he glanced down at the cards in his hands he had yet to read from. "_'In case of small breeding pool due to diminishing population Procreation Plan must be set into motion. If plan requirements are not met, further inbreeding will occur and result in stunted residents. Head Vault Physician_, in our case Dr. Hobbs, _will conduct the Genetic Pairing Program on main terminal located within Physician's office. The Genetic Pairing Program, or commonly known as GPP, will study through the genes from the available gene pool, picking out the 'weak links' and finding the most compatible gene to help it grow and nourish. When matches are made, the female and male that have the compatible genes will then take on the responsibilities of an adult and accept what needs to be done, those being conceiving and bearing children that will be genetically superior. With this advantage, future population of the vault will flourish - all because the wonderful residents that are part of GPP lent their bodies to science - and for the betterment of Vault 101!_'"

Everybody looked absolutely horrified. Amata ashamed, Janis with her jaw hung wide, the cursing of the Tunnel Snakes, the gasping from the group of girls in the front. "My father knew..." Janis whispered almost inaudibly as she scanned the floor beneath her boots, brows burrowed, face blanched, fists trembling with both anger and shock. "Amata.. When you saw your fathers terminal, did you see the pairs...?"

She shook her head, eyes also affixed to the not so interesting floor. "No, I only caught a glimpse of the plan before my father realized I saw it and rushed me away. I think the pairs are only stored on your fathers terminal."

"Hm." She tapped her chin in deep thought. "That would make sense. There was a seemingly broken file stored in a random location and when I clicked on it repeatedly it would require administrators password. I asked my dad about it and he told me to leave it alone, so I did just that.."

Alphonse cleared his throat again from his podium and the loud murmuring died down, all but one of Wally Mack's outbursts. "This is a load of shit!"

"Thank you for indulging us, Mr. Mack." He drawled with a slight shake of his head. "This may seem sudden and it may seem drastic, but if we do not implement this plan now the future of our vault is in danger. It just so happens that it is this generation that has to buckle down and accept it. Now, here are the numbers. _'If Vault population is below 150 fully healthy residents, female and male gene carriers must resort to the minimum of two children, both of which must be up to standard health requirement - if in case a child is born genetically inferior than expected, female and male must bear another healthy child to fill their quota. If Vault population drops lower than 100 to 50 residents,_ which is our current state, female_ and male must bring forth minimum of four children to the vault. These minimums must be reached before the female reaches the age of 35 to avoid possible complications.'_ So that means any couples here that thought they have finished having children, may be required to bear more children until their quota is filled, that is if you are 35 and younger."

"Oh my God.." Janis thickly gulped as her heart raced, thinking of all the possible outcomes. "This isn't fair Amata!"

"I know, I know.. But there's nothing we can do about it. There are penalties for not obeying the plan."

"This is penalty enough." Janis leaned against the back of her chair and crossed her own arms over her chest, slowly shaking her head to herself. She caught the eyes of her father through her strawberry blonde hair. He looked endlessly apologetic. She knew he wanted to tell her desperately, but throughout her life she'd always encountered her father and the Overseer in a fight - so she could understand if he needed to keep this under wraps for his own good.

As the slideshow finished, it was her father who took to the podium next, clearing his throat nervously as he brought forth a pristine sheet of white paper, just about the same white as his face currently was - or anybody else who was in shock, which was everyone. "Well then, let's get started on those pairs. I will list the available gene pool options in alphabetical order. Almodovar, Amata. DeLoria, Butch. Gomez, Freddie. Hannon, Paul Jr. Hobbs, Janis. Kendall, Christine. Kendall, Monica. Mack, Stevie. Mack, Susie. Mack, Wally. Wilkins, Janice. Wilkins, Jim." James drew in a deep voice, eyes flicking up to his daughter for a split second before continuing. "Again, by alphabetical order. Amata paired with Wally."

Janis quickly looked over at her friend with a horrified expression - this was bad. Of course her best friend would be paired with an awful tunnel snake! They'd always sexually harass her, and now this? Amata's eyelids slowly closed, her bottom lip sucking in angrily. "Of course." She bit out. "Of course it had to be a _tunnel snake_."

Janis looked right back at her father, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Alphonse rubbing the bridge of his nose. Her only hope now would be Jim Wilkins, Stevie Mack, and Freddie Gomez, although the latter was recently spotted hanging around with the tunnel snakes. James cleared his throat uneasily. "Butch paired with Janis."

And here she thought her best friend was going to have a hard time. She slumped into her chair like a melting marshmallow, face frozen in shock, disgust filling her entire being, an arm wrapping itself around her shoulders and Amata's voice filling her ears. "Oh God.." Her friend had whispered with a quivering lip, her free hand cupping her mouth. "I'm sorry Janis-"

"I got paired with Butch?" She murmured, thoroughly confused. "I can't be paired with him, Amata - I just can't!"

Amata gave her a sympathetic look before turning back toward the front where the next pair was being read. She let her eye wander to the right, where the three tunnel snakes were sitting on the ends of the row. Butch sat in the middle of the two, his arms resting on the backs of Wally and Paul's chairs, his face covered by Paul's head. But she could clearly see the shaking of his head and the whiteness in his knuckles as he clenched the top of the chairs. "Freddie paired with Monica."

She could care less about the pairs that followed. Her life was coming to a halt and she was expected to just sit here and obey? The corners of her lips curled into a frown. "Paul paired with Christine... Stevie paired with Janice... Susie paired with Jim."

A few moments later her father began to list the residents of the vault still under the age of thirty-five and needing to contribute to the vault's success, one of those being Ellen DeLoria, who was surprisingly not as drunk as she usually was. She merely shook her head and looked down at the floor, while it was Butch who spoke for her. He took to his feet abruptly and pointed an accusing finger to James and the Overseer. "You can't make her do that shit!"

"Butch, if you could please sit down-" Alphonse stepped front and motioned for him to take a seat but Butch refused, so like him.

"Like hell I'm gonna sit down!" He spat angrily. "You guys are fuckin' nuts!" It was no surprise that Butch and his mother were on rocky terms, what with her alcoholism, so in short he was very protective over her and kept their life immensely secretive. It was no shocker when he stormed out of the room with a huff.

"He is going to be the father of my future children.." She shuddered inwardly, a cold shiver running through every vein and cell in her body, a vile feeling in her stomach. "If he's abusive normally.."

"No no, Janis, you can't think like that.." Amata stuttered nervously, fumbling to find the right words to help soothe her friend. "Sure he's the biggest jerk in this damned vault, but abusive toward his own children he wont be... I'm sorry, I just can't promise you you'll be safe from his wrath."

Wasn't there an unspoken rule that consisted of a boy not being able to hit a girl? She and almost everybody else that wasn't in his gang were their little punching bags, and as they grew older it wasn't just punches and kicks thrown their way, it escalated into actual beat downs, choking out, and cuts with their illegal and always confiscated switchblades. Thankfully since she was her fathers intern she could patch herself up, and even everybody else so the Overseer would never find out - if he found out it would be more harm to them than it would to the perpetrators. If she were to share an apartment she knew she'd be in for some beatings within the confinements of her own, supposedly safe home with no one to protect her.

When the Overseer concluded the session, Janis made sure she was the first one to bolt out of that room while everybody stayed like they wanted to chat it up like nothing was wrong. She drug her fingers through her wavy blonde hair with a very audible groan, throwing her back up against a wall adjacent to her and her fathers apartment. It was times like these where she wanted to leave and never return, but she had no place to go. The vault door was sealed shut and it seemed like these ruled were to be heavily enforced, so there was no real way of weaseling out of this one.

She heard a snort down the hall. She peered through the curtain of hair and saw Butch near his own apartment, leaning up against the wall with one foot on the wall, one hand holding a cigarette, while his other was stuffed into the pocket of his leather jacket. She tried to pay him no mind, but she was left with two courses of action. Be the bigger person and go into her apartment, or go over there and tear him a new one. The latter seemed more relieving but she was always the bigger person in situations like these, so she sucked it up and pushed herself away from the wall.

"You should be overjoyed, Poindexter." He said through clenched teeth, taking in a long drag of his cigarette. When he finished and she looked over her shoulder at him, he tossed the still lit half smoked cig to the ground and crushed it beneath his boot in an almost threatening manner.

Her apartment door was so close by - she could say what she needed to say and quickly lock it before he could storm over to her to pick a fight. "No Butch, I think you're the one that should be overjoyed, and thankful for that matter, that they could actually find someone that would make up for your extensively long list of genetic shortcomings!"

He pressed his lips into a thin line, eyes darkening, brow lowering. "Yeah? Like what? You're ugly - I'm not!"

"You're stupid, and I'm not,_ hairdresser!_"

"I'm strong, and you're **_weak_**!" He snarled, taking a threatening step forward and that's when James had intervened, thankfully. He grabbed his daughters arm and pulled her into the apartment, quickly shutting the door behind them.

"Dad!" She bawled dramatically, throwing herself up against the wall in their apartment, burying her face into the sleeve of her jumpsuit. "You_ knew! _You_ knew_ I was going to be paired with him!"

He cautiously raised his arms. "Sweetie, there was nothing I could do about the pairings, it just so happened both of your genes would mesh well." He truly looked and felt like he had betrayed his only child, his sweet little princess, wanting to reach out and comfort her but he knew better than to do so when she was in such a state.

"You know what he's like! I can't - I just can't! He's an awful person!"

"Janis.. Oh I wish I knew something that would make you feel remotely better.." He trailed off as he licked his lips. "All you would have to do is have children, and they're the only things you'd ever have to pay attention to."

"I don't want any of my future children related to him. I wouldn't want them to even know his name.. He'd only mess up their lives."

"We'll see what happens when the apartment situation is dealt with. Butch has already turned eighteen, so in a month and a half when you turn eighteen you're going to be moved in together. If his tormenting persists we will get something worked out, I promise you." He sighed as she stormed off into her bedroom, letting her door slide closed behind her without a further word to him.

* * *

**x review if liked? it would mean the world!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

_Project Procreation_

_2_

* * *

Her eighteenth birthday was something she always looked forward to. It was the age for every vault 101 resident to gain the card to their very own apartment. She'd always dreamed of living on her own, not being weighted down by the chores her father gave her... But now with this plan being enforced by the Overseer, she was dreading the day. She wasn't going to get her own apartment, she was being moved into the apartment Butch had the luxury of living in for six months beforehand, a used, _Butch_ apartment.

So you could understand her sick feeling when she awoke to the special day from her alarm. Her lids were weighted down - she hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, or any other night for that matter, with the upcoming fear of future bullying from Butch always trailing her, she just wished she could remain living with her father. But today was the day, and already she could hear her father greet the Overseer at the front door, a signal she had to get the heck out of bed.

She clambered into her blue jumpsuit, zipping it up to her neck, quickly lacing her black boots tightly against her shins, fixing her hair, and sighed deeply. As of late she'd been practicing with her bb gun, knowing one day Butch was going to come at her and before he could ever lay a hand on her she'd shoot him somewhere not-so-serious so he'd get the point. She only thing left to do was find a hiding spot for it in her new shared apartment.

Nodding to herself in the mirror, she drew in a deep breath. "This is it." She hadn't seen Butch since their encounter after the grande vault meeting. She wasn't sure if it had been enough time for him to cool off or if it was time for his anger to broil over so once her father and the Overseer left he'd get payback for her remarks. "Let's just hope he'll only come at me with mean words. I can do this, Janis.."

"Janis, sweetie, are you awake?" Her father questioned from the other side of the door with a few knocks against the metal surface, voice wavering.

"Y-yeah, hold on a sec!" She glanced back in the mirror. "If he does lay a hand on me, I'll get his ass sent to a cell." With a nod, she left her bedroom.

"Ah, Ms. Hobbs. Congratulations on your eighteenth birthday, it's a tremendous day!"

"Yes, Happy Birthday sweetheart." James kissed the top of his daughters head gently.

"I suppose you could call it tremendous." _No, you can't_. But of course she didn't expect him to understand until Amata reached her own eighteenth birthday. "Shouldn't I pack my things?"

"There will be time for that later. Now, we must introduce you to your new home!" Alphonse had led the way, once he was out of the door Amata's face had suddenly appeared with a gentle heart-warming smile.

"Hey, happy birthday.." It should have been a happy day, Amata knew that, and she would have felt rude if she didn't address her best friends birthday. "I know it's not very celebratory, but we'll make-do, alright? I got you this gift, but only open it when you're alone, okay?"

Janis wrapped her fingers around the small wrapped box with a timid smile and nodded. "Alright. Thanks Amata. Wish me luck, I'm moving into the dragons den."

With a hug, Amata did just that, sending Janis and James on their way to Butch's apartment down the hall. _Here we go_. Butch was at the end of the hall with his mother to his left, looking at them with a friendly face. As they approached Ellen took a step out and engulfed Janis in a surprisingly warm hug, letting go a few seconds later with a warm smile. Probably because she was ecstatic that this new plan only ensured her only child would give her grand-children. She didn't seemed too peeved with her current situation, though, since she was thirty-four and expected by the overseer to at least have one more child before she '_expires_.'

Butch still didn't look all too happy though, as he wouldn't even glance in Janis' direction, fists shoved into his pockets and a sour look upon his face. Before he could catch a glance at her present from Amata, she slid it into her jumpsuit pocket gently as the Overseer began to speak.

"Well, here we are. The first same age pairing in the plan, and possibly the first parents to contribute to our vaults success?"

"You wish."

Ellen sighed and nudged her sons arm with her elbow. "Butchie.." He looked even more angered when that baby-name was uttered, craning his neck around to give her a look. It looked almost as if he had warned her beforehand not to call him that in front of people, so she smiled feebly. "Sorry."

James turned toward Janis with a large, proud smile adorning his face, gently grabbing her shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze. "It may not be the way you expected, but you're finally eighteen - an official adult as of Vault standards. It seems like only yesterday you were born, and now you're moving out."

"It's not like I'll always be gone, dad, I'm still interning at the clinic." She chuckled lightly as she gave her father a hug. _Though the next time I'll be at the clinic it'll probably be because I'll need to be patched up_. "And it's only down the hall, I'm more than likely going to bump into you more than once."

"Yes, I suppose you could put it that way. You know, your mother would be so proud if she were still here today."

"I know, you've been telling me that for the past week."

Alphonse cleared his throat. "There's nothing left to say except welcome to your new home, Janis. I have a number of things I need to tend to." With that, the Overseer had excused himself and briskly clicked down the hallway.

James casually stuck his hands into the pockets of his pristine white lab coat with a gentle smile. "Well, you know I'm needed back at the clinic soon, so I'll be on my way as well. I'll let you get settled in. I'll be seeing you later for your clocked hours, I presume?"

"Yeah, I'll be there dad." He nodded and swiveled around, pacing down the hallway swiftly. Ellen was speaking to Butch, and since Janis wasn't rude, she didn't eavesdrop on the conversation, walking passed the two and toward the open door to Butch's apartment - their now shared apartment. She was expecting an explosion of mess everywhere, graffiti on the walls, broken light fixtures, illegal things scattered about, but when she stepped foot into the apartment, she was actually pleasantly surprised.

It was clean. It looked like a regular apartment, with just a hint of Butch! She licked her lips and rubbed her arms as she took a step further into the apartment, glancing around curiously. Draped over the arm of the couch was a tunnel snakes jacket with a half sewn on snake on the back and a few studs on the side table, waiting to be attached to the leather. Other than that project he had going on, there wasn't much else that looked out of the ordinary. He'd turned eighteen roughly six months ago so she thought by now he would have spiced the place up. She peeked through the metal shutters that were slightly drawn, peeking at Butch and his mother talking, bickering at each other before they went their separate ways, neither of them looking as if they were to enter the apartment.

"Time to snoop." She pressed the button on one side of a closed door, revealing his bathroom. "Ah, here's the mess.." Product everywhere. Product filling the counter top, product in the shower shelves, even product in the medicine cabinet. Upon further investigation it was mostly half empty containers of pomade, ranging from different tube sizes to little tubs. Among the counter top mess were a variety of razors and aftershave, the many bottles of the scent were uncapped and probably missing. She sighed. If there was one thing she hated was clutter, but she was not about to go and clean up after a grown man, so she left the bathroom mildly disgusted but before the door could close, she noticed how the toilet seat was up, and she groaned.

Next she lingered into the bedroom where the apartment's only bed was since the other rooms were empty, waiting to be filled with nursery items and such. It seemed Butch also did not like to make his bed, as his duvet and sheets were askew atop the mattress. His hamper was overflowing with blue jumpsuits and worn white t-shirts, and once she slid open the closet door, all she was met with was black. Not black as in emptiness and a lack of lighting within the small space, but about ten hung up leather jackets, which were cool to the touch as she moved them along the rod. "Hm." She guessed he stole them since it's not regulation to have this many jackets in possession. She strolled over to the desk on the other side of the room with a grimace. "I bet he's never used this thing." She joked as she took a seat, tapping her fingernails against the metal. There was a framed photo of him and his mother when he was younger. He was frowning quite visibly but his mother had a large smile, and although her eyes were sunken and dark, she looked remotely happy with her arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind. It was a chillingly sweet picture, really, because oftentimes when Butch and his mother were in the same vicinity he tried his best to get the hell away from her.

The rest of the bedroom was ordinary, she supposed. On his bedside table there was a rough sketch of the tunnel snakes logo and a comb, and that was about it. "Time for this gift..." She reached into her pocket and brought out the small box, wrapped delicately by the precise Amata, who just loved those small ornate details she was known for. Janis pulled on the small bow and gently took apart the yellow wrapping paper to reveal a small brown box. Lid raised, the first thing she saw was a pink note.

_Janis. First and foremost, this **has** to be kept a secret. I stole this from my fathers weapon locker, and don't worry, he shares the locker with the security guards so if he notices its absence, he would just assume they needed a new one. One you were paired with Butch the only thing I could remember was the day of the G.O.A.T. exam, where you stood up for me against those damned tunnel snakes, you even took a beating for it. But now it's my time to pay you back for that, even if it's not direct to their gang. Please only use it in a drastic situation, you know how Butch can get. Love your best friend, Amata_.

She set the note down and fished around in the white tissue paper until she felt it.

Janis wrapped his fingers around the small thing and smiled deviously when she pulled it out, holding it before her hazel eyes. It was a state of the art taser, only carried by the higher ranking security officers in vault 101. It was beautiful, really it was. It shone underneath the dull light of the bedroom, it's yellow warning stickers shining brightly more than anything. "Oh Amata, you always know what I need." Before Butch could return home, she tucker it into her jumpsuit, wiggled around to make sure it would stay put, and casually strode out of the room.

Boy was she thankful she could get the hell out of there and get back to somewhere she knew was safe - the clinic. Well, it was decently safe. The tunnel snakes were in there more than often but never seemed to be there for trouble, just to get patched up. She hoped Butch hadn't wandered off to go pick a fight because he was the last person she wanted to see while having time to herself.

She skimmed through some notes on her terminal in the clinic, idly memorizing different illness' and their cures when James had walked in. "Hey sweetie, I had a box delivered to your room for when you pack up."

With one last click, she glanced over her shoulder with a small smile. "Thanks."

"I was wondering if you could run some stimpaks to the rec. room for me, which is where Andy is currently situated. He has lower than minimal supply and I need them there asap. I'd do it myself but me and Jonas are working through an experiment at the moment." He set down a small cardboard box filled to the brim.

"Yeah, sure." She scooted off the chair in front of her desk and paced over to the table. "Anything else?"

"No, that's all. Be back here to tend to any patients afterward, though."

With a nod, she heaved the box upward and began her journey. The rec room wasn't too far away, just down the hall and take two lefts. Easy. She made it into the rec room where two groups of people were currently situated. She paid no mind as she paced over to Andy and set the box down upon the counter in front of him. "Hey Andy, I've got the stimpaks you need."

"Oh thank you Miss Hobbs!" The robot thanked her enthusiastically as he wiped down the counter with one of his arms with a grey cloth, another hand tinkering with the red and white striped fridge behind the counter. "Can I offer you a refreshment as a thank you?"

"Oh no, I'm good Andy, thanks." She gave him a slight wave before turning on her heels, eyes immediately locking with another set of eyes. It was Susie Mack, was was sitting at the counter with Monica and Janice by her side, the other two girls off in conversation while Susie absolutely _stared her down_. She heard the rumors of Susie's undying hate toward Janis solely for the fact that she was currently crushing on Butch, apparently over Freddie now, and seethed for days after she wasn't chosen as Butch's match.

Janis rolled her eyes and continued walking past the obsession driven girls, turned toward the doorway to leave, and was expectantly stopped. It was non other than the vaults two delinquents, Wally Mack and Paul Hannon, both blocking the doorway with stupidly smug grins on their faces. "Can you move?" She questioned them reasonably, hoping they were more interested in playing a game of pool than picking a fight with her, but when they ceased all movement and stared down at her she knew she was in for it.

"I don't think so, nerd." Wally chided with a dry chuckle, stomping his foot in front of her, silencing the rec room. Paul stayed silent. He was never really the instigator of the three, level-headed, and would sometimes show remorse. But right now, as Janis saw it, he was completely fine for a two on one fight it seemed.

"That's original." She grumbled as she moved side to side to try and find an opening between the men, but both had impossibly broad shoulders, easily blocking any escape attempts with ease. She tried to push her way past said shoulders but failed miserably, as she realized they were jacked and weighed a lot more than she did. "Just get out of my way, I have stuff to do."

"You're cruisin' for a bruisin you dumb bitch." Wally snarled with a grin as he stepped forward.

_This is it_. She told herself as she mentally noted the quickest path to her taser, which was waiting for a target. It's preferable target was Butch when he felt like he needed to punch something and she was the nearest thing to him, but if Wally and Paul were in the mood for a brawl and said brawl was odd numbered she was going to have to use it.

She was so close to darting her hand into her jumpsuit when two hands suddenly appeared, clasping onto both Wally and Paul's shoulders, Butch magically appearing behind them with a cigarette idly dangling from between his lips. Before they even had time to question why he wasn't in on this earlier, Butch smacked both of their heads together, earning a roar of cursing and groaning.

"What the fuck was that?!" Wally sneered, rubbing at the shaved side of his head, lips curled downward into a nasty frown. Both of them looked at him, the Serpent King, Butch, as he gave them both dirty looks, as if he could see how truly idiotic these two were.

"Will you two skids knock it off, huh?" Again, he had his hands back into the pockets of his jumpsuit, leather jacket fully zipped down. "We've got better things to do."

"What the hell's gotten into you, _huh_?" Paul added bitterly as he also began to rub at his head. "Think cause she's your future baby mama we have to respect her or some shit?"

Butch removed the almost dead cigarette from his mouth, and as she's seen before, pressed the burning end to the collar of Pauls jumpsuit. "Like I said, you two better knock it off or_ you're_ gonna be cruisin' for a bruisin', got me?" Nobody in the rec room were surprised in the slightest. The three of them were always in altercations with each other, even pulling out the 'big guns' and knife fighting until the dispute was handled, so this was just baby play for them. What surprised Janis more was that Butch, although not directly stopping this for her benefit, stopped his fellow gang members in such a way from doing something they normally did.

_Maybe he's saving the first punch for later_. She thought, and when Wally and Butch were in the middle of bickering, they left an opening in the doorway and in an instant, she was gone in a hurry.

She returned back to her notes on the terminal, anxiety levels rising. She was certain there was going to be an altercation when they would be in the apartment at the same time. Chewing her nails absentmindedly, she'd occasionally glance up at the clock and with each passing second went an hour it seemed. Her father clocked her out and ushered her home, telling her she'd have to pack quickly before curfew was set in place. She saw the plastic tub in the middle of her room, void of anything, waiting for her items to be loaded.

She gathered all of her personal items on her bed to sort through what she wanted to bring and what she could leave behind - wanting to leave behind more precious items so Butch couldn't steal or break them. "Do I take or leave the BB gun.." She tapped her chin as she thought through it. "Self defense, but if found could possibly be used against me.." She huffed. "I'll leave you here." She got on her knees and slid the gun beneath her soon to be old bed.

She packed her clothing items, those being her white tank tops, blue jumpsuits, and few different colored sweaters for when the vault was especially chilly. She rested a few books and nick-knacks atop before blowing a strand of blonde hair out of her face. "Dad, I'll be going now." She teased as she paced into the living room, where her father was diligently reading a book on God knows what. "Oh - wait."

She carefully set the box down before darting into her old bedroom and returning with a soft duvet that was always on her bed. "Can't leave this.." She explained, placing it in the box before heaving it up again, blowing yet another piece of hair out of her face.

James smiled as he removed his reading glasses from his face, setting them down on the red hardcover of his book with a small sigh. "This is officially it. My first night without having to hear you snore-"

"-as if."

He chuckled. "Tell me, why are you taking that blanket?"

"Well, seeing as how I'll be sleeping on the couch and Butch probably wouldn't take too kindly to having no blankets, I thought I may as well bring my own."

"Ah." He fidgeted his fingers around. "If anything happens-"

"I know. We'll sort through it. I thought I may as well leave you with the tidbit of information that I have two illegal weapons in my possession, well I'm leaving the BB gun under my bed here. Amata gave me a taser she stole from the weapons locker.. So maybe you can put some concern away."

"That does make me feel slightly better I suppose. Tell me how your first night it tomorrow when you clock in, alright?"

"Alright. Sounds good."

He nodded as she paced toward the door. "Goodnight, and I love you."

"Love you too."

She set her box of items down in the middle of the living room, stretching out her back afterwards with a sigh of relief. She poked around a little bit and realized Butch seemingly hadn't been home all day, and was bound to be home sooner or later since curfew was impending. "Alright, well..." Seeing as how she and Butch were not going to be sharing a bedroom like the plan had originally intended, she had no access to the dresser in there, and going in there every morning while he was sleeping wasn't something she wanted to do, so she pushed the box so it was neatly covered underneath the arm of the couch. "Home sweet home."

She sighed with a slight frown as she took a seat on the couch, beginning to unbuckle her vault standard boots, setting them underneath the large wooden coffee table. Quickly, she slid out of her jumped and into her yet again vault standard sweatpants and fresh white tank top, sneakily hiding the taser between the couch cushions. Now crawling atop the cushions of the couch, she draped the duvet that smelled of home over her body and curled up, only her eyes peeking out, watching the front door just as diligently as her father was reading.

She wanted to be ready.

Around ten minutes later the dim red lights of curfew shone outside, only visible through the slight cracks in the metal shutters. She licked her lips. "Anytime now Mr. DeLoria, anytime.." He never came within ten minutes, so she allowed herself just a few minutes of shuteye when nearly half an hour had passed. She was so close to dozing off when a figure passed in front of the blinds. "Butch.." She hissed to herself silently as she could hear the swipe of his card and the door loudly creaked open, his figure silhouetted against the dull red glow. He looked menacing, scary, horrifying, to the point of sending shivers down her spine. Her fingers dug into the cushions until the tips dusted against the cold metal of the taser, the door now slowly sliding shut behind him.

Silence and being unable to see anything clearly were not two things she ever wanted to have put together. But she heard him take a few steps over to the wall and slowly, the small sounds of clicking were emitted, the clicking which belonged to the living rooms light dial. He stopped when there was just enough light to see each other.

"You still awake?" He questioned as he took a step to the side to get a glimpse of her eyes, and once he did, a cold, hard stare off ensued. "Yeesh, you look demented in this light." He rolled his eyes as he touched the dial once more until darkness enveloped them once more.

His boots brought him closer to her, yet oddly stopped only in front of his bedroom door until it swirled open and in a moment, swirled shut. _All it was were a few words? No no, that can't be right. He's got to come back_. Immediately she leaped out of her nest of blankets and pressed her ear to the coldness of his metal door. All she could hear through the thickness was the rustling of his clothes being changed, the presumable sound of his switchblade hitting the dresser top, and the sound of him getting into bed. She could also smell the faintness of a lit cigarette.

She sighed.

It wasn't like she was wanting it, but she'd rather it be done sooner than later. She drug her feet back over to the uncomfortable couch and fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

_x. thanks for the review! sorry if this chapter was a tad boring!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Project Procreation_

_3_

* * *

She'd barely gotten any sleep that night. Who knows, maybe Butch was only pretending to sleep so he could sneak a punch in the middle of the night? Her body fought hard to get the rest she needed but mentally, she was awake as ever, fingers still connected to the taser through the cushions. If he was on the prowl she'd be ready.

So in the morning she felt groggy, plugged up, and heavy - so she felt like shit. But the way she saw it, if she lost a few precious hours of sleep to make sure she wasn't beat down while vulnerable then hey, she'd stay up every night. She slowly sat up as the lights in the hallways outside slowly buzzed on and the clock in her pipboy made a small noise, the time she'd usually start to slowly wake up and make herself something to eat.

Janis peeled the duvet off her legs and dragged herself away from the couch, keeping Butch's bedroom door in her eyesight as she padded passed it and into the kitchen. Standing in the middle of the kitchen, she scanned the counter top, where some of his edible items were sitting. They had no interest to her, so she peeked inside the fridge and pressed her lips into a thin line. A few alcoholic beverages in the back of the fridge, that didn't surprise her, a half-finished carton of milk - something she wasn't going to touch because a few years back in the cafeteria she'd seen him drink it straight from the carton. "Anything milk related is out of the question..." There wasn't much after the milk, a few cans of food here and there but nothing remotely interesting enough to eat. When she closed the door of the fridge is when she saw the _figure_.

She bit her tongue as she tried to coolly look over her shoulder. Without a taser in hand she felt more vulnerable than she usually did. Her fists wouldn't work against him, as they retained no muscle at all and would provoke him further. She could kick him in the groin but if he caught her.._ I'd be done for_. She'd been literally snapped out of her strategy thinking when he snapped his fingers in front of her face, raising a brow at her.

"Get out of my way, will you?" Butch didn't look as menacing as he usually did, what with his usually slicked back hair and studded leather jacket, but this morning was a completely different story. In his boxers and white t-shirt, no sleek leather jacket, no goo in his hair, he looked like a somewhat normal person - but Janis knew better.

So she stepped out of the way and retreated back into the living room, standing over the couch as she thought about her course of action. She could just go and grab a sandwich or breakfast bun from the diner before heading over to the clinic, and that decision could possibly save her a beating. Kneeling beside her box beside the couch, she rummaged to the bottom and forcibly pulled her jumpsuit from beneath everything she shoved in there.  
She then dug around for a white tank top, undergarments, and a pair of socks before standing up tall.

Janis was just about to take a step toward the bathroom door when Butch exited the kitchen with some food in his hand. She wondered why he was even awake at this hour, when they used to be in class he was almost always late yet here he was fully awake at six in the morning.

"Y'know, that stunt you pulled yesterday..?" He started, cutting himself off with a bite of his hastily made sandwich. "Can't happen again - cos' I can't make sure you don't get your ass in trouble all the time with Wally."

"You're saying it like you did me a favor." She deadpanned, narrowing her eyes his way as she tried to make sense of what he just said.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Cos' I did."

"You and you're stupid friends have been bagging on me for_ years_ and now you think you're some kind of saint? Because you're not. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary if they roughed me up like usual."

He looked somewhat deterred. Eyes panning over to his sandwich as he took a bite, corners of his lips turning downward into a frown. "Just listen to me and shut it."

She huffed out a breath of air and took a step forward toward the bathroom, he did the same, stepping in her way and holding out an arm in front of the door. "I need to use the bathroom."

"Uh-uh." He shook his head with a grimace. "You think you're gonna use my bathroom before I get to?"

"It's my bathroom too, dick." She took another step forward, he took a step back and into the room.

"I need to get to work, y'know, paid work. Not like your interning bullshit." He disappeared behind the door with a stupid smirk on his face.

"Dammit." Janis muttered to herself as she stared down at her jumpsuit in hand. Padding into his bedroom, she closed the door behind her as she then began to change in there instead. "Yuck." She kicked away his clothes that were in her presence as she left his bedroom. She totally forgot that Butch actually had work. She knew he was a hairdresser (not a barber) and she knew there was a shoppe around the corner but him take work seriously? Now that was a shocker.

When she left his bedroom, she saw that the bathroom door was still closed, so she wondered just how long it took him to do his hair in the mornings. Not that she cared though - and it was not as important as getting something to eat and getting into the clinic before she was late.

Walking through the halls with a cucumber sandwich in hand, Janis sighed to herself. She was contemplating filing a request for a cot to be added to the apartment because this kink in her back would not do, then she thought about what the overseer would say. _Young lady, were you not attending class when the birds and the bees speech was given? You cannot conceive a child from two separate beds_! Thus, her request would be immediately denied and she'd probably be watched by the overseers goons.

When she swiped her card through the clinic's doors, she was expecting to just see her father typing away at the terminal in silence or he and Jonas in the office, talking about their experiments and such but she walked into something completely different. Her father was standing over a metal bed, holding his stethoscope to the exposed chest of a patient.

Placing her sandwich down on the nearest counter, Janis quickly made her way over and made another observation. On the table was non other than Ellen DeLoria, completely unconscious. Ellen would sometimes grace their clinic with her presence, not as in a friendly visit, but when she'd pass out in the hallways and would have to be dragged over to make sure she was still breathing by security. This time seemed different though, as Ellen looked more sickly than usual - more than she looked yesterday when Janis moved into Butch's apartment. Her skin was yellowed, the bags that were usually hanging from her eyes were now puffy, irritable bruises, and her limbs were swollen more than usual.

"What happened?" She looked over her shoulder as she quickly pulled Ellen's zipper down to expose more bruising on her body.

James grunted as he examined the woman carefully. "Found unconscious in the doorway to her apartment. Unresponsive, sweating, jaundice. It's Cirrhosis. She's been getting worse - every medication we've given her in the past was either neglected or her body had negatively responded, another symptom of Cirrhosis. It's evident that her drinking hasn't ceased. She's very close to losing her life."

She nodded quickly, preparing all the things necessary to test the woman's blood pressure. "And there's no way to get them to stop selling her alcohol?"

"They've been trying. She's found ways to get what she wants in the end." James sighed as he hung his stethoscope back around his neck. "The same thing happened with his estranged father, drank himself to an early grave. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to go and retrieve Butch, we're going to have to have a word with him."

Usually she would have groaned in disgust that she was being forced to converse with him, but in her medical mode, she nodded intently and left the clinic in an instant. She didn't know exactly where the hairdressing shoppe was, but as she rounded multiple corners multiple times, she saw Butch and the current head hairdresser through the window.

When the door slid open slowly to reveal Butch chatting with the maturer woman, she glanced over and a foul look crossed his face. "What do you want, nosebleed? Can't you see I'm workin' here?"

Janis never enjoyed telling family members about their loved ones illness', but as a medical intern her father made her take on the hardest parts for her learning. "Butch, I need to talk to you_ alone_." She motioned for him to take a step outside.

"Why would I want to talk to you?"

The lead hairdresser shook her head with a grimace as she stepped away and moved to the back of the room, sorting through some tools back there. Janis didn't want to embarrass him, well she did, but she wasn't aloud to say this type of stuff aloud but since he was putting up a fight, she had no choice. With a whisper, she motioned once more. "Butch, it's about your mom, so get out here please."

He tapped his fingers against the metal hairdressing chair with a thin frown, looking back at the far wall of the room until he pushed off the counter he was leaning against and strolled on out slowly.

When the revolving door slid shut, she tried to look him in the eyes, but he kept a straight face, eyes looking forward. "Somebody found your mom unconscious this morning." She began, his face unchanging. "We really need you to help keep her in check-"

"You think I haven't tried, you little idiot?" He spat, now quite visibly angry as he stared her down evilly, blue eyes burning. "You think I don't know what the hell is wrong with her?"

Janis was actually quite taken back, as she failed to immediately retort. "I-I.. That's not what I meant Butch.."

"Then _what_ did you mean?" He emphasized almost every single word laced with poison.

"I just.. I'm telling you that if action isn't implemented now you're going to lose your mom. So if you'd follow me, we'll run down some of the details in the clinic."

She watched as some his features softened, sucking in his bottom lip as he licked himself off the wall slowly. He crossed his arms over his chest and began down the hallway without her. She trailed behind him and entered the clinic right after him, watching sullenly as he stood before his mother unconscious like it was nothing new. She never had a mother, she only had her father and the thought of losing her only family was extremely chilling.

"Butch, there's a few things we need to discuss about the future of your mother." James started as he placed his hands into his pockets. "Do you see the coloring of your mothers skin?"

Butch glanced down with a look of mild disgust. "Yeah, yellowy lookin.' Why?"

"It's called Jaundice, a symptom of Cirrhosis. You see the swelling of her legs, this bruising on her face, somewhat enlarged abdomen? Also symptoms of Cirrhosis. I know in the past I've given you strict instructions on her care, but know it's really make it or break it. If left untreated, at the rate she is declining, I'm afraid she will fall into a Hepatic Encephalopathy, which is a coma as a result from liver failure." Butch remained quiet. "From that coma she will not wake up."

"Look Doc', I've tried everything I can to get her to take her meds but she just spits em' out when I turn my back. It's harder now that I've moved out."

James nodded. "Well now I'm going to have her check up in the clinic daily so I can make sure she takes her recommended medications and to check her alcohol intake."

"She's got her sneaky ways of gettin' more drinks."

"Is there any way you can get into her apartment and remove any alcoholic beverages you may find?"

"Yeah, I guess.." Butch shrugged and stuffed his hands into his leather jackets pockets, eyes scanning over his mothers defeated face. He swiveled around on his heels and promptly left the clinic to ransack her apartment.

Janis took a seat in front of the terminal. "I'll start on the report." Hesitantly, she began typing away into a notes section in Ellen's extensive medical file. She knew that technically if she ever did end up having to have a child with Butch, Ellen would be the only grandmother their children would have, and although Janis personally wouldn't want her child around a drunk she thought it was important to have her around. Not to mention she was the only family Butch had, and nobody should be going through this, not even Butch.

"Hello Ellen.." She heard her father say in a hushed tone over the sound of rustling. When Janis glanced over she saw that Ellen had regained some consciousness and was now groggily looking around the room, still looking as if she were knocking on deaths door.

She groaned slightly as the fluorescent lights burned her sensitive eyes, water immediately brimming at the corners of her eyes. "Hrn, I'm here again...?"

James gave a slight chuckle with a nod as he adjusted some of the wires connecting to her finger and chest. "Yes, you are here again. You're in rough shape."

"When am I not." She gave a dainty, almost guilty smile as James pulled a blanket over her.

Another person came into the picture, and it wasn't Butch returning from her apartment, it was Jonas with a few papers in hand. "Hey James, we've got the results here if you'd like to come into the office for a quick second."

"Yes, alright. Janis, can you take Ellen's blood pressure again now that she's awake and administer the beta-blocker."

Janis nodded and took to her feet, shuffling over to the bed and bedside table where her newly prescribed medicines were sitting. She uncapped a small white pill bottle and shook out two little round green pills into the palm of her hand. Behind her, someone else had entered the room and by the sound of the heavier than usual boots, she knew it was Butch this time. "Alright, if I could get you to sit up, I've got some pills here for you." She carefully uncapped a bottle water also accompanying the pill bottles on the side table and handed it over to Ellen along with the two single pills. "These ones you absolutely must take."

"Alright.." She murmured, voice battered and raspy. It was clear she was not in good shape if you couldn't tell by just looking at her. She popped the pills into her mouth and swallowed thickly.

"Can I trust you didn't just hide them under your tongue?" She smiled heartily once she took back the water bottle and capped it, setting it back down on the bedside table.

Ellen managed to let out a small laugh. "Yes you can, now that I have something to live for I'll try my best to take my meds." Janis was sure she meant grandchildren. Her worn blue eyes veered off to the side and she seemed to warm up when she looked at her son, a smile gracing her face. "Hey Butchie.."

He hesitantly strolled on over and took his place on the opposite side of the bed from Janis, disregarding her presence completely as he looked down at his mother. Janis paid no mind as she then reached for the next pill bottle and removed it's dark blue lid, popping some pills into Ellen's palm before capping it up again. "You have to bear in mind that these medications you need to take will not work if you are still consuming alcohol of any kind, even watered down."

Utter silence fell upon the trio, the air thickening with automatic tension. Any time alcohol was brought up around Ellen, or even around Butch for that matter, things would go awry and every body would grow overly sensitive. It was taboo to bring up the topic when the two were in the immediate viscinity of each other. Janis was just glad she was saying this from a medical standpoint or she was sure Butch would have forcibly shut her up.

Ellen gulped down her pills slowly as her eyes glazed over as if she were in deep thought. "I..." Her voice was so beaten, so raspy and frail, that even if you were blind you could tell she was not a healthy woman. ".. I know.."

And suddenly, the tension was somehow raised and withered away, as Ellen smiled daintily, a slight glimmer in her blue eyes. The sound of thick leather wrinkling was heard, belonging to Butch as he crossed his arms over his chest with a slight grimace as he stared down at his mother. Janis wondered if this came to a surprise to him, maybe it was the first time in his life his mother actually understood what it was she was doing wrong. "Good, cos' I already poured all your shit down the sink."

Yet she gasped, almost playfully as she smacked the back of her hand against his leg. "Butchie!"

Smiling, Janis backed away as she undid the cuff off of Ellen's arm, closing the curtain to leave them in seclusion for a bit as she could resume her report. Before that, she peeked in through the crack to her fathers office, where James and Jonas were chatting silently in the corner of the room.

"Hey, dad, I did everything. Want me to just work on the report or is there anything else?" She poked her head in further and saw that he silently motioned for her to come in further.

"Close the door behind you sweetheart." He spoke quietly, so she quickly did just that as closed the distance between her and their small group in the corner, slightly anxious. "We've got the tests back, from the numerous blood tests we took on Ellen earlier, and we compared them to her previous tests.." His eyes lowered to the printed out results on a sheet of white paper, pursing his lips together.

"How bad is it..?" She folded her arms behind her back, bracing for the worst. Frankly Janis was surprised that Ellen was even still alive, after being addicted to alcohol for such a prolonged time.

"We don't expect her to live, at least more than a year with the rate she is declining." Jonas finally said after getting a nod of approval from James.

"So, even if she completely stops drinking and is regularly taking her prescribed medications, there's nothing we can do?" Her heart sank. Unlike her father, Ellen would be her first patient that she actually took some leadership into tending to, and somewhat developing a little hope that there was an upside to all of this. To lose her would truly be upsetting.

Jonas shook his head. "Now if this were, say, fifteen-ish years ago, then yes. Ellen could have been perfectly fine. The damage to her liver is just.. Beyond repair, and since we don't practice transplants there's nothing else we can do except ease her into a hopefully peaceful death."

"So, future Doctor Hobbs, what do you think is our next course of action, at least with this information we have." James cocked his head and stared at his daughter for an answer.

To which Janis didn't really have one, or at least one that she was okay with doing. "Usually we'd inform the patient of this, right?"

"If the patient is well enough, then yes. Ellen is in a state where she seems fine enough to be escorted home soon enough."

"So, are you expecting me to tell Ellen?"

James made a slight shrug gesture. "Well yes, this is your first in depth case I've let you on, so I think I'll let you take the reigns on this one. God knows you're ready for it." He smiled, but she knew she was not ready for it.

Still, she nodded because she wanted to do right by him and Jonas. If it were anybody else she would have just done it.. But for some reason, knowing she had to break the knews to Ellen made a knot in her stomach and she was immediately washed over with some sort of guilt and sickness. Janis gulped when she closed her fathers office door behind her as her eyes set upon the drawn curtain, Butch's silhouette outlined.

"Okay... I've got to do this.. I'm going into the medical profession, this will be something I have to do all the time. Who knows, maybe Amata will fall sick.." She shivered and rubbed her face in her balmy palms, groaning to herself silently. Janis also immediately felt under pressure with this whole new, population control plan set into place. If Ellen was now creeping close to death, she'll most likely be excused from her part before she turns 35 (if she even reaches that age), so instead of looking forward to her own child... She'll be looking forward to a grandchild before her death.

"Okay.. Okay.." She tied her blonde hair back and then reached out, curling her fingers around the edge of the curtain, slowly drawing it back to reveal Butch and Ellen in mid conversation. "Hey, if I could speak with Ellen for a moment in private, please."

Although he didn't look too pleased, he didn't pipe up, and actually listened to her for once, slowly backing out of the enclosed area and off into a corner of the clinic. Once Janis made sure he wasn't able to eavesdroppe, she looked back down to Ellen.

Once Butch had left Ellen looked quite visibly upset. "I know it's bad..."

Janis licked her lips with a slight nod. "You're right."

"So.. Just how long do I have then? Will it even make a difference?"

"The medications will make a difference on your day to day life; however, on a long term scale they wont make an impact on the already permanent damage. Reviewing the tests, both my father and Jonas have estimated around a year."

Ellen nodded slowly, but it looked as if she wasn't surprised. She even let out a small, dry chuckle, a humorless one. "I would have thought less than that.."  
She wiped her dry eyes with a small sigh. "Looking back on it I know I should have stopped when I had the chance.. I was just so unhappy and the alcohol - it seemed to make everything go away. But I see now what it's done.."

Janis nodded slowly along to her words, taking in every tidbit of passionate letgo's in.

"Before this whole 'plan' thing had happened I was fighting so hard to live day by day because I knew I couldn't leave Butchie alone, I just couldn't... But.. I'm feeling a little bit better now that you're around.. I know Butch hasn't been the nicest person to you, actually godawful.." She smiled fondly as she panned her gaze over to Butch, who was tinkering with his switchblade. "He was the sweetest and cutest little baby I'd ever seen. I always thought I'd keep his father a secret from him but one night I just had too much and let it slip, and he became such a hateful little thing on the outside."

Janis was thoroughly intrigued. Butch's backstory? This is something she didn't know about.

"His father used to beat me, horrifically beat me and neglected Butch the first two years of his life before ultimately leaving me for another woman and then drank himself to his grave." Surprisingly, Ellen reached over and took Janis' hand between her own. "He may be a complete jerk, but I know now that you'll be the mother of his future children, hurting you will be the last thing on his mind. Though I think the mean things he says are just in his nature.."

Anybody would call Janis crazy for thinking this, but somehow that made her feel a teensy bit better, and she already had evidence to back up what Ellen was saying. Butch could have gladly let Wally and Paul beat her up when they had the chance in the diner, but he didn't, which was not in his nature to do. It was starting to add up.

"He has a good side, believe me." Ellen sounded almost desperate.

"I'm sure he has a good side." _I just have yet to meet it_. "Would you like me to go and grab him so you two can talk?"

She gave Janis a slight nod. "Yeah."

...

Janis ended up working pretty late with her report, making sure every little intricate test detail was written down so future doctors could look back at Ellen's case and hopefully find something that would help. She hadn't seen Butch and Ellen since she let them talk once more behind that blue curtain, as she sat down in her fathers office and began tediously typing away, so she didn't know what kind of state she'd walk into when she returned back home and he was still awake, but as she powered the terminal down she could only guess what she'd be walking into.

She closed the lights in the clinic and began to stride down the hallway. It wasn't a long distance from the clinic to her and Butch's shared apartment, and already she could see the window to the living room, the shutters hiding what was within. She swiped her card in front of the sliding door and loudly, the door quickly slid open for her entrance, revealing the empty living room, only the television set in front of the couch was running.

_He's most likely with his mom, but to leave the tv on_? She shrugged it off and mosied on over deeper into the living room. She slumped against the couch and sighed. _What a day_. Absentmindedly she dug into the couch and rifled around until she had her taser in her hand, pulling it out to fumble around with it in front of her face. She didn't want to see Butch because she didn't want to feel worse than she already did. He may be a real asshole but.. She'd rather not have his carefree jerkish image tarnished by his immanent depression.

She stood up and paced over to the tv set to turn the knob off - and that's when she heard him.

It was the sound of his heavy combat boots slamming against the metal flooring that scared her, causing her to jump up with a slight yelp and throw her arm out - she was still armed with her small metallic taser, now pointing right at him.

Janis stood there now, completely frozen, as she stared into his icy cold blue eyes, that weren't trained on her, but instead almost crossed as he stared directly at the taser before him. Out of nowhere, he placed the tip of his index finger to its side and veered it off to the right, now meeting with her hazel eyes. "I've been tased a lotta times doll, this ain't gonna stop me." He sidestepped passed her and took a seat on the very left of the couch, which she noted was 'his spot' since it was noticeably lower than the other cushions.

Of course she wanted to sympathize with him and give him some space, but she was tired from her long day of working, so she took a step toward the couch. "You know you're sitting on my bed, and I'm pretty tired." Janis tried to easily lay it down for him but he didn't seem too impressed, as he picked up the remote from the wooden coffee table and scored through the sparse selection of vault approved shows.

"Well it's my couch and my tv too." Nope, he didn't sound like he cared at all. But really, did she blame him? No.

She puckered her lips out. "You have a tv in your bedroom."

"Well this one's bigger." He seemed a tiny bit more agitated now, so she planned on following that path just so he could retreat back to his room, since this was her own territory.

So instead of continuing this fight, she took the high road and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, idly crossing one leg over the other as she watched the tv set, eyes glazed over with both boredom and tire.

"So my mom's only got a year to live, huh." Out of the blue he spoke, and for once, it wasn't followed by poindexter or nosebleed. Janis glanced over her shoulder, to see that his eyes were still on the tv, his face stoic and stern. Despite that his voice was different than usual, it was startling how much emotion she could detect from just those words and the pitch of his voice. Not that it was high or anything, but how soft it was. She didn't think that was possible.

She idly tapped her thigh as she quickly thought of what to say. "I'm sorry to say, but yes. If she continues taking her medications, this year could turn out to be wonderful for her."

He didn't respond right away, he merely pressed his lips into a thin line as the tv continued to fill what would have been awkward silence. It stayed like this for a while more before he spoke again. "Thanks for patchin' her up."

_Now that's a first_. She was floored, completely flabbergasted, shocked! Did the almighty Butch just thank her?! Her of all people?! She didn't know what to say! So much so that she could only gulp thickly and give him a nod. She never knew deep inside Butch was a decent human being, and although she hadn't seen much of it, she was _actually_ looking forward to meeting it.

* * *

_welp, this turned into a medical-y chapter. sorry about that but Ellen's health is pretty imperative for this story! Thanks a bunch for the reviews! requests within reason are much appreciated and I'll try and do them if story plot allows!  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_Project Procreation_

_4_

* * *

A silent month had passed. Within the month was Amata's birthday, something both Janis and Amata had been dreading. Janis woke up early enough before Alphonse could get to her and made her a nice breakfast, wishing her luck before having to head on over to the clinic. Amata and Wally were now the second couple in their year to have reached their legal vault ages and were now expected to bring forth some children. Janis didn't speak to Butch that much, at all really, as they both lead completely separate lives in different parts of the vault, and she only had one check up with Ellen since then, who promised she was clean of any alcohol, Butch backing her up on that one.

That was until another clinic visit from the DeLoria's. This time it was a frenzied rush, Butch rushing Ellen into the clinic looking absolutely mortified as his mother was going limp, almost tripping over her own feet as they stumbled through the door. "You've gotta help her, she's coughin' up blood!"

Indeed she was, as Janis jumped to her feet she could see blood stains on the front of Ellen's blue jumper and her face was partially bloodied. She hurriedly directed Butch to help his mother onto the medical bed and immediately Janis got to work. As Ellen drifted in and out of consciousness, Janis took that as a sign she better get some words in as quick as she could. "Hey Ellen... I'm going to put this heart rate monitor on your thumb here.." Calmly and collectively, she equipped the woman with everything necessary for her treatment.

It seemed the blood had ceased erupting from Ellen's mouth, letting Butch visibly calm down from his shaken state. He backed up against the wall with a shake of his head and began to light a cigarette.

"You know you can't smoke in here." Janis stated passively as she fumbled around with some cords and pressing in different computer buttons.

"Well it helps me calm down." He stuffed his zippo into his pocket, the cigarette danging from between his lips as he drew in a long drag, waiting a few moments before breathing out the white smoke from his nostrils.

"You seriously think you're just going to smoke a cigarette in a health clinic? Just go outside and do it."

"I ain't leavin' my moms side."

She opened her mouth to retort but somebody had beat her to it. "Come on Butchie, no fighting.." Ellen rasped as she drew in deep breaths of clouding air, her glazed over blue eyes staring at her son with a glimmer of hope. "..If you have to smoke the thing do it outside." He didn't seem too happy about this, as his jaw squared and tensed. He pushed himself off the wall and did as he was told, disappearing behind the sliding door to finish his cigarette. "You know." Ellen began as Janis examined her chest before Butch would return. "He's been so much better since my last major visit.. He visits me often, he never used to.." Ellen trailed off with a dainty smile on her face, and just then Janis reached over and grabbed a wipe.

"That's good to hear." Really, it was. They had a strained relationship and if Butch had the decency to make his mothers last year alive a good one, then he gained some respect.

"It's been so long since he's been like this.." She coughed up a small amount of blood and quickly went back to cleaning herself up a bit once Janis finished examining her. "Hell, I'd say since he was just a kid."

But reentered the room cigarette-less now, fists shoved into his pockets, slight scowl on his face, but still that worry he wasn't concealing, or maybe he didn't know Janis could read him that well. He loosely grabbed the top of a metal chair and scraped it beside her bed. He took a seat, lounging back as he sullenly watched his mother lay in pain.

"So, are you even aloud to be doin' this? I mean you're not even a real doctor. Wouldn't want you screwin' my mom up." He ignored his mom's side glance. "I'd rather your dad do it."

Ellen gasped a tiny bit and reached over just as he took a seat beside her on the bed, giving his knee a gentle squeeze. "Don't be mean, Butchie. I trust Janis."

"I ain't bein' mean, just bein' reasonable." He puffed out some air as he leaned back in his chair, eyeing Janis. He wasn't too inherently angry as he always was with Janis, but it seemed it was coming from pure frustration and because it was his day off - a day which he devoted his mornings to sleeping.

"You can trust me, I've done this procedure a few times, both of which my dad said I did fine, but it is your decision entirely."

"I'm more than fine with you doing the procedure." Ellen smiled as she wiped away a few splatters of blood near her mouth with her pink wipe.

Janis nodded. "Well, I'm going to put you into deep sedation because both methods, either surgery or not, will be painful and you probably wont want to see it. I'll be sticking a small wire down your esophagus that has a camera on the end so we can see what's going on and I can decide whether or not you'll need surgery."

"Okay.. Do you think I'll pull out of this alright..?"

"I'm sure of it. Bleeding ulcers can result in some bad things but if you're sitting here talking with me then we must have gotten to it early." Janis gave her a reassuring smile as she reviewed Ellen's file to get her weight for the anesthetic. "So you'll wake up and most likely wont remember a thing, and you wont be coughing up blood anymore.. I'm going to insert the IV now, you'll only feel a slight... Pinch."

"That was alright." Ellen smiled as she glanced down to her wrist where the needle was fitted into her vein. She watched as Janis gave her a slight nod as she then injected the anesthetic into the IV. Butch watched intently as his mothers eyes slowly drooped down and she was unconscious.

"You can hang out in the waiting room." Janis set down the used needle and glanced his way as she brought forth the small camera on the tip of a narrow tube. "Doubt you'll want to stick around for this."

He thought about it for a moment. "I think I will stick around, y'know, to make sure you don't fuck up." He settled into the chair, getting more comfortable as he eyed her carefully.

"Sure." She rolled her eyes, making it quite visible as she brought forth the next device to keep Ellen's mouth opened while she got a good look. Once set in place, Janis made sure her camera was on, the flashlight was at the appropriate mode, and the monitor was on before starting the procedure.

Around fifteen minutes had passed until Butch opened his mouth up again to speak. "So, uh what's goin' on in there?"

She looked away from the monitor for a brief second. "The bleeding ulcer is big, but I don't think it requires surgery."

"So what do you have to do then?"

"Inside this tubing there's small tools to repair the damage.. Like Endoscopic clips to reform the damaged area of the stomach lining, then a cautery which heats up and seals the wound." She licked her dry lips slowly as she began the first steps to the tedious process.

Butch was kind enough to give her some silence as he noticed her visible change in face, as she looked completely serious, brows knitted together, lips pressed together, fingers not trembling in the slightest. He felt and looked a tad reassured, knowing that his mother was in good hands, at least from what he could see. But if there was one thing he hated was staying silent, so he let out a huff of air.

Janis would have looked at him if it weren't for the fact that she was deeply into her work at the moment, but he continued anyways. "So uh, where'd you get that scar?"

She raised a brow, but still didn't look his way as she clipped two pieces of stomach lining together. "The one above my eyebrow?"

"Yeah, that one..." He trailed off as he noticed another one. He watched as her features softened, yet she looked a bit off.

"I think..." She winced as she clamped another piece of stomach lining. She drew in a deep breath. "I got that when you kicked me in the face after Wally had beat me to the ground."

Complete and utter silence fell over the two. If she weren't concentrating on making sure his mothers health wouldn't be further compromised by this nasty ulcer, she would have seen the absolutely horrified and disgusted face Butch currently donned. But it was only because she was working he let himself display such emotion. So much so, that he took to his feet and marched out of the clinic.

When the door slid behind him is when he groaned to himself quite audibly, throwing his back against the cold hard metal wall behind him. Butch hastily fished around in his pockets until his fingers brushed against the small package. Eagerly he ripped the box out of his pocket, looted around for a loose cigarette, and tossed the now empty package aside.

With a lit cigarette in his mouth to help clear his head, he thought he may feel better, but with the silence around him it only led to more anger. He took a long, deep drag. "Dammit." White smoke clouded around him, broiling over from his slightly parted lips as he tried to remember when the hell that beating had happened. He only grew more distraught when he realized there were too many times to remotely come close to just one.

There was a girl in there, doing her best to help his mom, and talking about a scar he had given her so calmly? He shook his head as he crushed the cigarette between his thumb and index finger. He thought back to when he told Janis he couldn't protect her from Wally when he wasn't around - but now he was thinking there shouldn't be any reason for him to protect her.

Butch pushed himself off the wall with a hint of determination in his eyes. He was going to make sure of that.

He stormed off down the hall, fists balled up, jaw squaring, eyes sharpening. His days off just so happened to be the days off Wally had from his training camp to be a security guard, and Pauls job as a technician only needed him to be on-call, so he knew those two were lounging around in the rec-room like always.  
He took one step into the recreational room and scouted around like a hawk until he saw the two hanging around in the corner, joking about something with smiles on their faces and the leather jackets on their backs. He stalked over, and when they heard the infamous sound of Butch's combat boots they looked over their shoulders.

"Bout' time you got here." Paul took a side step to allow Butch into their little circle. "We were gonna come n' get you if you weren't here within the hour."

"Relax, my mom just needed some work done, still's in the clinic with Janis." Butch caught Wally's eyes - he knew by calling her by her real name would set off something in the boys. He only now realized he had only said her name a few times.

"Oh, so what? You callin' her by her first name now?" Wally teased with a large flashy grin. "You plugging her now?"

"No - I'm too busy pluggin' Susie." Butch sneered and Paul took action, taking a step between the two as Wally was about to lounge forward at his friend, curses flowing from his mouth. "Anyways, that's not the reason why I'm here."

"Yeah well you better make your case quick, jerkoff!"

Although Wally had been his best friend since before he could remember he just wanted to kick his teeth in a lot of the times. One of those times would be now, but of course he refrained from doing so. "You two are gonna quit pickin' fights with Janis."

Immediately his two 'subordinates' burst into laughter, Wally even mocking Butch as he wiped away a fake tear from the corner of his eye. "When the hell did you decide you get to boss us around?"

"Since_ I_ made our fuckin' gang, that's when." Butch pointed an accusing finger into Wally's face. Paul he could handle, since he was more of a pushover than Wally and would ultimately obey what he said. "So like I told you two, if I see, or hear that you two are pickin' on her you're goin' to have me to deal with. Kapeesh?"

"Jesus Christ, what's gotten into you." Paul backed away when he sensed that Wally was not longer in the mood for fighting, looking just as unhappy as Wally, though. "She was our favorite punching bag."

"Well find a new one." Butch jabbed Paul in between his eyes with his index and middle finger before swiveling around and heading for the door, feeling a little bit better now that he cleared the air with his goons.

He only took one step outside the rec room when he bumped into a stationary Amata, who stumbled back a few paces with a yelp. "Jeez, prowlin' around just like your dad, huh?" He joked with a grimace on his face before making his way to the store for a fresh pack of cigarettes.

Janis had only finished heating the fully clamped ulcer with her tool when Butch had returned to the clinic. She had only just removed the surgical tubing from his mothers mouth and set it into the 'to clean' tray beside her on the metal cart. "If you were wondering, your mom will be fine."

He sat back down in his seat and studied his moms face. Janis noticed he looked peeved. Surprisingly, it didn't seem like it was directed at her, since he hadn't lashed out at her yet. She was just about to stand up to take the tray over to the sink and sterilizer when his lips parted and his brow twitched. "Y'know, I didn't think we were hitting you hard enough to leave scars."

_Oh_. "If this is about what I told you earlier then just forget it, I'm over it." She curled her fingers around the silver tray and picked it up, and when she stood, he stood. His face was clear and just as easy to read as her medical textbooks, lips turned into a scowl, brows furrowed, eyes unblinking.

"You shouldn't be over it. If somebody left a scar on my face I'd kill them!"

She turned on her heels and made her way for the sink, dropping the tray onto the counter from about an inch above. "Well believe me, I tried to fight back, but you know, it's hard when there's three much larger people attacking you." She gripped the sink handle and pushed it toward the wall, letting the water splash against the metal basin with force. He followed right behind her.

"Then why didn't you-"

"Why didn't I what? I tried everything I could to make you guys stop! I screamed, I begged, I tried to fend for myself, I tried to tell the overseer but it seems he's your bitch now and barely bats an eyelash."

That shut him up and she knew it. He couldn't argue because he knew she was right, in every regard she was right. They did ignore her pleas, they only hit harder when she fought back, and they threatened the vault when the overseer would even bring up the topic. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"And I think you did know you were hitting me hard enough to leave scars." She bit out, scrubbing the tools underneath the luke warm water with her gloved hands, going a little bit more vigorously than usual. "Because I distinctly remember you guys laughing when you kicked me so hard there was a gash above my eyebrow, leading it to bleed all over my face. So just stop trying to act like you care because of this stupid plan we're stuck in, it doesn't suit you."

Butch inwardly huffed and forced his mouth closed. He'd let her dish it out on him this time. "C'mon Janis, I'm just trying to say I'm sorry, alright?"

"Duly noted." She then moved the utensils to the sterilizing machine, where her back faced him. The silence was eery enough for Butch to retreat back to his seat beside his mother without another word.

About an hour after Butch had escorted his mother out of the clinic, still avoiding Janis at all costs, another visitor had appeared before Janis at her terminal. "Hey." Amata greeted with a small smile and a finger wave. "Are you busy?"

"I was just finishing a report. What's up?" Janis clicked the small icon on the file she was typing in to save her work and when she made sure it was completely saved, she glanced up at her friend. "How's Wally?"

"Surprisingly he's alright. Still a completely jerk to me, but I guess I can't complain." She smiled as she leaned against the desk, letting out a content sigh. "I actually came here to ask how Butch was."

Janis raised a brow, pressing the green button on the printing machine. "Really? Why?"

"Well.. I overheard him in the rec room today with the other tunnel snakes. He just abruptly told them to leave you alone, and when they argued back, he _threatened_ them! I mean we all know that the three of them like to fight each other playfully, but he was completely serious!" Amata was left gawking at just the memory. "I didn't know Butch had a shred of compassion in him! So it led me to wondering if something was _happening_ between you two that you haven't told me.."

Janis noticed the hurt in both Amata's face and voice, like she had been keeping secrets from her only best friend. "A-Amata..! Absolutely not!" To ease the awkward atmosphere she waved her hand around. "I mean really, could you imagine?" Butch threatened his friends for her? She remembered back to when he had slammed Wally and Paul's heads together and told them not to bug her - but later that day he had even said he couldn't stop them when he wasn't around. So why would he go out of his way to further this?

Amata heartily chuckled. "No, I guess not.. I just remember overhearing something a few of the girls were saying a while back, about him and you, things about how he was the most 'attractive' guy in the vault and he was going to have you in his hands in a weeks time."

Janis groaned. "Let me guess, it was Susie who said those things, because everyone knows they're _secretly_ 'hooking up.'"

Amata gave her a slight nod. "It was, and ever since the revelation of the plan she's been riding his coat tail like a lost puppy. Oh, that's another thing Butch said, he just like, outright told Wally about it. I'm not sure if he said it as a joke or what, but that really got Wally stirred up."

Janis chewed the inside of her lip. Why? She didn't know why. She didn't understand why. It wasn't because she was head over heels attracted to him. Sure he was decent looking, better than most guys in the vault, but was she about to drop to her knees and submit to his every pleasure? No! It didn't come as a surprise that Susie said that. One day she was passing in the hallway passed Susie and under her breath she could hear her comment on how lucky she was. She was close to turning around and telling her just how unlucky she was but as a mature adult she turned the other cheek. She didn't recognize it very well but deep down she wanted this thing to stop between him and Susie.

"Janis?" Amata waved her hand around. "I guess I did catch you at a bad time, huh? It is pretty late."

"Sorry, sorry... I was just super focused earlier so I'm a bit frazzled. It'd be a lot better if we talked tomorrow, I have it scheduled off."

"Yeah, of course."

So as the two bid their farewells, Janis couldn't help but feel weird, and it was weirder because she didn't know why. She slid her card into the slot and the sliding door to her and Butch's apartment slid open. She didn't pay any mind to Butch, who was making himself some food in the kitchen, instead she took the opportunity to get on the couch before he could sit down. She kicked off her boots and curled up, cocooning herself in the duvet, only her eyes poking out from between the layers.

He refrained from speaking to her and she gladly accepted the silence.

* * *

_let's be frank, Butch is the most attractive person in all of the fallout games.  
_

_also Benny._

_reviews?! Thanks ! _


	5. Chapter 5

_Project Procreation_

_5_

* * *

Janis tapped her index finger against her knee as she stared down at her box of items, all on the top was her dirty laundry. It was her day off and she really would have liked to sleep in, but it just so happened Butch had to work, so when he woke up, she woke up. She waited until after he left the premises to wake up and scrounge around the kitchen for some food, praying that he didn't eat all of the good groceries she bought just a few days before. After she ate, she got dressed into her last jumpsuit that was clean, and decided she had to get her laundry done today.

She sorted her laundry into a separate hamper, heaved it up, and marched out of the room. When she'd last spoken with Amata, she had mentioned she overheard Wally speaking about the best times to get to the laundry room. Because they were only equipped with one laundry room in this entire vault with about ten machines, the schedule could get pretty hectic. Amata said she'd snuck into the laundry room at the said time on a few occasions, both of which were successes, so Janis could only hope she'd be that lucky.

She hit the button with her hip and took a look inside - only a few machines were running. With a grimace, Janis skipped to a free machine and loaded it up. "..Didn't know Wally was good for something.." She smiled as she heaved the small square shut on the washing machine and chose her specific settings. "Gotta be back in an hour to make sure I can get a dryer.." She clapped her hands together and headed out the door. Next on her to-do list was to get the kitchen stocked up on food, since Butch ate an incredible amount of food she didn't know was possible.

Waddling back to her apartment with arms heaving around two large brown paper bags full of food, Janis quickly shuffled inside and thrust the bags onto the counter with a large sigh of relief. "I wish Butch had the decency to make ration runs.." And thus began the tedious work of putting all of the food away into the cupboards and shelves in the fridge.

She peeked at the clock bolted to the wall and hurriedly finished with the last of the rations, all before the specific time slot Wally spoke of ran out. The door slid shut as she then began to make her way back to the laundry room. She hit the green button on the panel beside the sliding door to the laundry and when it slid open she stopped dead in her tracks. Her hand fumbled to the red button and when it slid closed she backed up a small ways to lean up against the wall with furrowed brows. "What the_ hell_ did I just see?"

She felt a tiny bit queasy, so she bolted out of the hallway as quick as could be before that door could slide open and reveal_ it_ again. She now understands why the Tunnel Snakes would like to have the laundry room all to themselves for a secretive hour. She wanted to wash her eyes out with holy water - as the sight was burned into her retinas and she was sure it would be dwelling within her nightmares. She had seen Susie Mack_ bent over_ a washing machine, and no it wasn't because she dropped a nickel behind the machine. She was _stark_ _naked, _jumpsuit around her ankles and breasts out in the open. Ultimately, yeah it was pretty gross, but Janis was a girl and she was interning at a medical clinic, she'd seen many naked bodies, from each gender, so it wasn't just the sight of Susie that appalled her beyond belief. Behind her, she grit her teeth at the memory, was non other than the famous trouble maker, Butch.

Normally, hey, she wouldn't have cared! It's non of her business, right? You gotta do what you gotta do. But.. She crinkled her nose. Something about it churned the food in her stomach. She liked it better when those rumors were still only rumors, not cold hard facts.

But.. "Damn.. I just want my laundry done.." But now she felt like she was scarred from this, and she could look at the laundry room the same way. She just thanked her lucky stars it wasn't.. '_On_' the machine her clothes were in, or else she wouldn't go back in there for those clothes. "Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"

Wait. "If Butch is 'busy' then I need to get my haircut now." She quickly twisted around and darted down the hallway, rounding a corner to see the door to the shoppe just in front of her. The door slid open to reveal... Butch!?

He laughed when he saw her, a stupid, snide chuckle as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking quite proud of himself. It made Janis want to vomit. But if she left now it would mean he won some sort of battle and she didn't want him to gloat about it whenever he saw her. So instead she stood there, arms crossed as well, a slightly disgusted look on her face.

"Is the other hairdresser around?"

"Why?" He shot her a lopsided grin. "I'm here."

"Well, last year when Amata was forced to have you cut her hair you nearly chopped it all off." She was not going to bring up the laundry room unless he initiated it, since he and Susie both for sure saw her.

He laughed at the memory. "Oh yeah, she almost got me fired for that."

"As she should have." _How the hell did he get here before me_?

"Chillax, I can't have any more close calls, so I wont be choppin' your hair off."

"Eugh." She shook her head, crinkling her nose for him to notice. "Mm, I don't know where those fingers have been, so I'd rather not."

He still laughed and patted the hairdressing seat. "Just siddown n' relax, will ya?"

"I'm being serious, Butch, really.." He put emphasize that his hands were indeed now underneath the sink, the water flowing freely through his fingers. Well now he was going to force her to stay. She sighed and paced over, taking a seat on the pleather chair. She was still scared, he might 'accidentally' do something wrong with her hair.. Like accidentally dye it a different color, accidentally snip into her ear, might accidentally shave a bald spot into her hair.. The list was endless. "Please don't mess it up."

"I wont, sheesh!" He yanked her hair out of its ponytail. "A haircut's supposed to be relaxin', so don't fret, kay?"

"Whatever."

"So..." He gently ran his fingers through her long strawberry blonde tresses, analyzing it carefully. "What do you want done?"

"Just cut off all the dead ends I guess."

"Really?" He raised a brow. "You've got a lot of hair we could work with."

"And what would that accomplish?"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the mobile basin, positioning it behind her chair so when he lowered it down her head nestled into the empty basin. "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?" He turned the silver handle so a gentle stream of warm water washed over her locks. He watched the corners of her lips turn up into a smile.

"Couch, actually."

"Yeah, yeah.." He grimaced, beginning to thoroughly massage her scalp through the warm water, adding some shampoo into the mixture. When he finished cleaning and conditioning her hair, he toweled it for a brief moment before repositioning her chair. He slid his fingers into the small cutouts in the silver scissors, sectioned off her hair with his free hand and began to do what he did best, cut hair.

Only a minute after, Janis began to nervously chew on her bottom lip. "You seem like you're cutting off a lot.. God, why don't you have a mirror in here?"

"Jeez I'm not, you just have a lot of dead ends." Snip snip snip. "Mirror broke last week and we're waitin' for the new one."

"Let me guess, it broke because there was a fight in here?"

He let out a small chuckle. "Yup." He carefully cut down the dead ends off Janis' hair, making sure to keep it lengthy because he could already tell what kind of customer she was. "So you think you're going to tell Wally? I need to know if I'm gonna have to watch my back for a while."

He could see her brow wrinkle in disgust, a sour look on her face. The laundry room will never be the same. "Eugh, don't remind me."

"If you don't tell me, you'll be seeing me in the clinic a lot more."

"What? Can't hold your own against Wally?" She genuinely laughed at the thought, the thought of him getting his ass handed to him by his lesser.

"Shut up, you know I can!" He pressed his lips together. "He's just got the whole armory to his disposal and all for his trainin', so I wanna know if he'll be comin' at me with a lengthy baton."

"Well, I do get a lot of time clocked when you come in with injuries.." She grimaced innocently as he huffed out a breath of air. "But I wasn't planning on telling him, so go ahead and keep living care-free. But why the laundry-mat? I know there's that specific time-slot, but I mean you've got the whole apartment and her parents and brothers are most likely all out during the day."

He shrugged lightly as he took a small chunk of hair and snipped away. "Cos' it ain't serious enough that I wanna bring her back home. She's just a hookup."

"Don't you think that's mean though?" She inquired as she raised a brow, which he could clearly see since he was standing by her side. "I mean the poor girl likes you, so isn't it using her?"

"Well I didn't know that till' now, but still, it ain't my problem all the girls got a thing for me." He chuckled to himself pridefully. Janis rolled his eyes as he maneuvered to her right side to start on her overgrown bangs. He gently took the bangs between his middle and index finger, holding the scissors to the ends and carefully and slowly snipping away, wanting this to be a clean job. That was when he brushed his fingers against her scar by accident, well no, not by accident because there was no way he could cut her bangs without touching her face.. But he let his fingers linger over the scarred, slightly indented skin for a moment and his mind went blank.

"What's your obsession with that damned scar?" She withdrew her face from his fingers for a brief moment. "I bet you have tons of scars."

"It ain't the point." He sighed and closed the small portable scissors in the palm of his hand. "If we're forced to have kids, either the real way or fake way-"

"In vitro fertilization?"

"Yeah, whatever, you and your big words.." He waved what she said off like it was nothing, taking a step back away from her and crossing his arms over his leather clad chest. "If that happens, I don't want our kids someday askin' where you got that scar and you tell them _daddy_ gave it to you."

Butch and Janis stared at each other in complete silence for thirty seconds, Janis utterly baffled, Butch with a serious face. "Butch.." She whispered, weight being set on her chest. She never thought of it that way, and it shows he had more on his mind than getting his next fix. "..I would never.." She never even thought beyond the present, let alone explaining an old scar to their probably-not children. It was weird for Janis to know that Butch thought about their future children. "Is that on your mind a lot?"

He dumped his utensils into the tall glass filled with deep dark blue sterilizer. "I guess, yeah."

"I didn't know you wanted kids. They seem like they'd be too much of a hassle for you."

"Yeah, they _would be_, but I still want em'. Couldn't you imagine a whole bunch of mini-me's runnin' around this joint, huh?"

"No, no I couldn't." She smiled as he removed the smock off of her and waved it away from the chair to let her cut blonde tresses drop to the tiled floor. She couldn't imagine Butch as a father, and she found it funny this was the first time really thinking about the matter. He wouldn't be terrible, but with him as a father, they'd end up being taught how to wield a switchblade and their first word would end up a cuss word. She shook the matter off for the time being. "That aside.. Rest assured, I'd never say anything about it."

He ran his hands underneath the sink water, scrubbing his hands thoroughly as if he'd touched the leakage from the vaults garbage disposal. It wasn't because he found touching Janis disgusting, but he looked rather distressed. "Thanks and everything you know, but why? I mean I know I've been a real jerk to you any everything."

Janis stood up and wiped down her jumpsuit of the stray hairs. "If we _were_ forced into actually having children.. I wouldn't tell them because I wouldn't want them growing up and hating their father, and I know that's what you're scared of."

"'Heh..." She couldn't decipher what that grimace was about because his face portrayed a completely different emotion. "Yeah, you're right. I ain't gonna be like my dead beat sperm donor, cos I ain't gonna beat you, I ain't gonna ditch the kids, I'm gonna take care of them, n' make sure they wake up on time and get to school, and all the rest of that crap. You know, I think the reason why I hated you_ so damn much_ was because you had a parent that stuck with you and wasn't abusin' a substance. So I'm telling you now, I'm gonna be the best damned parent in this vault."

Janis was grinning from ear to ear. She tried to suppress it, she really did, but something within her just made her want to jump with joy! "That's _really_ good to hear, Butch." Maybe she was smiling because she felt relieved - so relieved that if she were to have children with him that she wasn't going to left in the dark. But she couldn't help the one feeling she still was bugged about.. "Just, be _careful_ with Susie, okay? If you know what I mean."

He laughed and dug around in his pocket, bringing forth a packaged rubber. "Twenty-five cent insurance policy."

"Eugh, could've left that out." She shook her head as she placed a few pre-war bills upon the counter. "Thanks for the haircut." With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared behind the sliding door.

He didn't really know what to make of himself. He didn't want to take the money. She was interning, so really her income was much lower than his, and she amused him this time around, so he'd just sneak the money back into her box of belongings. He still didn't feel better, though. "What the hell's wrong with me.." He glanced down at the rubber between his fingers and his instinct was to trash it - so that's what he did. He watched the small square package drop into the metal garbage pail, and even though it was barely, he felt a little better. Sure Susie was a good lay when he was desperate, but he didn't feel desperate anymore.

He pocketed the cash and reached over for the broom - now came his least favorite part - cleaning up.

...

When he returned back to their shared apartment he expected to find Janis claiming the couch by laying on it, but instead he found nothing. Normally he would have guessed she was working late, but today was her day off. He then concluded she was probably lurking around with Amata, or better yet, clocking in some hours at the clinic. Since she was probably doing one of those things he shrugged it off and stalked over to the kitchen to fix himself a sandwich.

He then lounged around on the couch almost impatiently, tapping his fingers against the fabric as he kept his gaze out of the crack of the shutter. Still no Janis. He caught himself as a sliver of worry sprouted in his head and _what if_'s plagued his thoughts. Suddenly, he felt useless sitting down, so he stood up and continued to stare out the window, waiting with a frown on his face. _Where the hell is she_? He tapped his foot. He got a cold sweat on the back of his neck and he instantly knew he had to go scouting around for her.

He stepped outside of the apartment with a sigh. He didn't want to leave the apartment so close to curfew when he was as tired as he was, but he would have felt guilty if he just turned a cold shoulder on her. He dove his hands into his pockets and lazily walked down the hall, only his footsteps echoing against the walls until he rounded a corner and came face to face with another body.

"Whadup doc', you seen Janis around?"

James gave him a slight nod. "Yes I have. It seems she took a tumble down a flight of stairs." Doctor Hobbs chuckled awkwardly. "She's always been so clumsy.. Anyways, I was just coming t ask if you could help me take her back to your apartment, she doesn't have the best coordination right now."

Butch bit his bottom lip. _My ass she accidentally took a tumble down the stairs_. "Yeah sure." So he trailed behind James until the entered the clinic, where Janis was laying on the bed groggily holding an icepack to her temple. He couldn't suppress the laugh that just sort of came naturally when he saw her in such a state, but immediately regretted it, so he tried his best to cover it up. "What'd you get yourself into, nosebleed?"

"She's probably going to have to be on bed rest for a day or two, she's pretty roughed up." James began, eying his daughter cautiously. "You may or may not have to help her with some things, like getting food and such..."

_What'd I get myself into_?

* * *

_ha. the susie thing was probably the thing I've been wanting to put in since before I began writing this story so I'm happy it's hereee! _

_Thanks a ton for the support! Keep showing it! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Project Procreation_

_6_

* * *

As James and Butch had entered the shared apartment with a half-conscious Janis, James had asked which door belonged to the bedroom.

"She sleeps on the couch." He motioned over into the den with his head.

"Well I don't know how she'd fair recovering on the couch, we'll have to move her to the bed." He stepped before a door which opened into the bathroom then proceeded onward to the bedroom door, glancing inside before helping lug Janis into the room. Butch cursed to himself. He hated making his bed but he wished this morning was one of those mornings he actually did so. Well, at least he saw one half of the large sized bed was still partially made, so he guessed that's where Janis was going to be plopped down on for the next couple of days.

After James had given Butch some brief instruction on keeping Janis bedridden for the next while, he left with some kind of hope that his daughter would be fine. Butch was no doctor, but if his only instructions were to keep Janis in bed, then hey, Butch could do that - he was great at forcing people to do things. When he knew for sure James was out of the apartment, Butch hastily returned to Janis's side.

"Did you _really_ just _'trip'_ down those stairs, huh?" He tapped his foot impatiently against the floor beneath his feet. "Cos' I have a hard time believin' that story."

Janis let out a long intake of air as she pulled the ice pack away from her line of vision, squinting up at him as if he were the sun. "Can you dim the light?"

"Can you answer my question?" He puffed out his bottom lip in a frustrated manner. "You can't just go askin' me a question when you didn't even answer me!" He looked down upon her as her hazel eyes still watered and squinted in his direction, so he sighed heavily and stomped on over to the dial and spun it all the way around until the light was almost completely off. "Okay.. Now you gotta answer me!"

She licked her dry lips and breathed in deeply. "I did '_really just trip down those stairs_', Butch."

"I think you're delusional."

She lightly grazed her fingertips against her throbbing temple with a slight hiss. "Could you get me a blanket please? I want to go to sleep." She grimaced as he groaned, dragging his feet out of the room and toward the direction of the storage closet. When he returned, he tossed the duvet at her before leaving the bedroom that once belonged to him. "I think you're delusional.." She sighed as she unwrapped the blanket and draped it over her body.

Butch sighed as he kicked off his combat boots underneath the coffee table, looking at the couch with dread in his eyes. Yeah sure, he'd slept on the couch before, but it wasn't by choice, it was only because he passed out there after a long day at work or he drank too much with the guys. He threw his leather jacket off onto the backing of a chair nearby and stripped himself free of the constricting blue jumpsuit. When he was left in nothing but his boxers and white t-shirt, he groaned again as he crawled atop the couch. "This shit ain't for me." He rested his head against the couches pillow and tried to stretch his legs out, but his heels hung over the arm of the couch, uncovered by the inadequate blanket.

Still, he tried his best to make the couch work for him, but as about an hour and a half ticked on by, he couldn't 'torture' himself like this. So he placed his feet on the cold floor beneath him, wrapped the blanket around his body, and marched on over to his rightful place - his bedroom. When the door slid open to give him entrance, Janis awoke immediately awoke and glanced over at him from over her shoulder.

"What're you doin' in here.." She slurred through her still half-awake state, rubbing at her watering eyes.

"It's my bedroom, why the hell are you askin.'" He stomped over to the empty side of the bed and climbed on top of the sheets, and once he put his head against his own pillow, he was out, giving Janis no time to argue.

He awoke with a start when Janis let out a pained yelp. His eyes shot open and he turned to his side, looking at her with a startled look on his face. "Wha?! Was' wrong?!"

"You elbowed me in the face.." That would explain why her hands were clasping her face and her eyes were forced shut. Butch sat up and rubbed his face with his hands , and when he peeked through the slits between his fingers, he noticed how he had hogged up a good portion of the bed. So he picked up the duvet off his body and flung it over her so he could then throw himself off the bed and into the washroom.

Janis stayed curled up in the bed, no matter how she kept muttering under her breath about how she didn't want to be sleeping in his bed, let alone be in the bed with him, but as her temple continued to throb and her stomach growled, she knew she couldn't complain to him about it - at least not too much if she needed him to take care of her until she was strong enough to get on her feet.

As he showered in the bathroom, she crinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes to the other side of the bed. The bed reeked of pomade that had rubbed off his hair in the middle of the night and onto his pillow. She didn't know how he could stand the smell of the stuff, maybe it was because he always had that strong smell of his aftershave on, but if one thing was for sure is that it was not a pleasant smell - and their bathroom was soaked in the smell. So she slowly reached over and pushed his pillow over the side of the bed but of course, that did nothing to aid her nose.

He returned to the bedroom briefly after his shower to grab his fresh set of clothing but before he left, Janis could see his natural hair before he greased it back up. Of course because of the pomade's thick greasy consistency it was hard to wash out in the shower, so his hair remained pretty slick looking, but still, the natural curl of his hair fought to be seen. He was out of that room as quick as lightning though, and she wasn't sure if it was because he didn't have his famous hair ready and he didn't want to be seen without it or not.

It was only then she remembered. "Hey, wait!" She thanked her lucky stars he did not turn the shower on or else he wouldn't have heard her. When he peeked around the corner and into the bedroom she motioned for him to come over. "You take so long in the bathroom, let me use it before you do."

"I don't take a long time in the bathroom." He squinted at her angrily, and when she wouldn't break eye contact, he sighed in defeat. "Well then hurry up!"

"You have to help me, I'm still not feeling up to par." She removed the blanket off her body and managed to move her legs over the side. "So if you want me to hurry up, then you have to hurry up."

With a groan he marched over and surprisingly hauled her over his right shoulder, stormed off into the bathroom, and plopped her right in the middle of the bathroom. "That's not what-" He closed the door behind him as he left. "..I meant.." She shook her head and swiveled on her heels so she could hobble over to the toilet to do her business. As she did her business, she noticed he already got all of his hair product ready on the sink counter, like his blowdryer and numerous jars of pomade and hair gel. He was so ridiculous.

When she finished in the bathroom, she pressed the green button and when the door slid open it revealed a very frustrated looking Butch. "I don't need to be carried, I just need you to help me walk back."

"Yeah yeah." He stayed by her side the entire time back to the bedroom and once she laid a finger on the bed he turned around to get himself back to the bathroom.

"Can you make me some food first?" She smiled deviously and laughed when he furiously turned back to her, brows furrowed and mouth wide open. "I don't know how long I have on my feet if I start to cook something."

"I'm not your damned slave, girl!" He stomped his foot down to show his point, curling his lips down into a frown and his brows met in the middle. "Plus you're always cryin' about how I don't make food you like!"

"I bought a lot of food yesterday morning."

"It don't matter! I need to get ready!"

"You're supposed to be making sure I'm feeling okay, which I am not." She wouldn't be asking him to make her something if it weren't important. "Please."

He ran his fingers through his wet dark curls with a sigh, averting his eyes away from her own and onto the plain wall in front of him. "Fine. Whaddya want, cos' it better not be something that takes more than two minutes."

"A sandwich is fine." She curled her fingers around the duvet and wrapped herself around in it, getting comfortable in the sheets of the bed. If she was in this predicament back when she first moved in she would have never thought of ever crawling into his bed, let alone not thinking twice about him sleeping in said bed, but ever since then she'd learned that Butch was indeed a very hygienic and cleanly person - maybe not with the apartment at all times, but he was no dirty person. Plus there was just something about the way the sheets smelled like his musky cologne that just bewildered her - in a good way.

He padded out of the doorway and into the kitchen, where very audible clunking noises were heard, as he was dramatically bringing out the needed supplies for her sandwich. "You know..." He called out from the kitchen as another clunking noise was heard. "I'm startin' to think that you're making me do all these things cos' you like seein' me in just a towel."

"You wish." Since she was one of the two girls that didn't flock by his sides she joked to herself that he made comments like that to make himself feel better. It was pretty obvious that he didn't like having all the female's attention, always resorting to either embarrassing her or trying to pry some feelings out of her. Whatever pumped his ego, she supposed.

About a minute later Butch reappeared in the doorway with a sandwich in hand. "Can't eat in the bed, though, I don't want the damn crumbs in there."

"What if I'm careful?"

"Not even then! Get outta bed."

She sighed and scooted to the edge of the bed so her legs hung over and her arms could reach out through the blankets, fingers outstretched for the sandwich. He took one step forward and placed the sandwich in her hand. "Now I'm gonna go get ready and you can't stop me." He twirled around and stomped off into the bathroom.

When she ate her sandwich, still out of the bed like he had asked, she kept her eye on the alarm beside his bed. After living with him for around three months she always told herself she wanted to time how long it took Butch to get ready in the mornings, usually she found herself rushing around most mornings because of his long monopoly of the only bathroom in the apartment - so this was the only time to do it. Already he'd been in there for around twoish minutes - so around nine forty-two. Already he racked up about a ten minute shower earlier - usually it seemed men in the vault only shampooed their hair and washed their bodies off, which usually resulted in a five minutes or less shower. Butch on the other hand, from what she saw in the shower that did not belong to her, shampooed and conditioned his hair, not to mention he took a good portion of time getting the thick pomade out of his hair, and every time it looked no less greasy after he showered - and then he'd just grease it back up! She's noticed he spent a lot of time doing unnecessary things. But then again, he said that about her not doing her hair - wasting her time not 'fixin' it up in the mornings'. It seemed to really bug him she had a 'blatant' disregard for her hair, he'd wake up every morning and stare at her once he was finished in the bathroom and casually mention he left out product if she wanted to use some, but whenever she'd leave the bathroom he'd shake his head and leave the apartment.

Besides his mother and weapon, those dark curls atop his head were the most important things in his life.

So when he exited the bathroom with hair perfectly greased and styled almost twenty minutes later, she nodded to herself. "You know in the mornings you hog up the bathroom for at least half an hour?

"Well when you've got a handsome mug like I do you gotta make sure you look presentable." He slid his arms through the sleeves of his leather jacket and slowly pulled the zipper up until he was satisfied. "Unlike you - who only spends a second puttin' your hair up into a ponytail."

"Because it's comfortable and easy, and I don't have to pay for the thousand jars of crap to put in my hair."

"Pff, it ain't like I actually pay for those." She raised a brow. "Hey - they're expensive, and ain't even guarded. It's alright, all the blame goes to Freddie." He laughed while she sighed. It seemed like she was the only one that felt remotely bad for the kid - he always went out of his way to get Butch's approval, even if it cost him. But then again, she was the only one who knew about Freddie's sufferings.

She shrugged and ate the last bit of her sandwich. "I just have better things to do with my time."

"Well you don't got anything to do right now." He took a few steps out of the archway and dragged a chair into the bedroom, tapping on it idly with his index finger. "Siddown."

She sighed and gave her head a slight shake. "I don't want to-"

"Hey if I've gotta take care of you today, can I at least make you less of an eyesore?"

Even though she took to her feet and carefully sat down on the chair, she still didn't want to go down without an argument. "You said yourself I was ugly, so what difference would it make." He drug the chair all the way from the bedroom and into the bathroom.

"Shut up. I only said that cos' I was angry that one time, you know that." He stationed her in the middle of the bathroom, eyes scouring the countertop for things he desired to use. He grimaced after he gathered all of the supplied together. "I've been wanting to do this for a while now."

She scoffed as she wrapped the blanket tightly around her shoulders. "Why?"

"Cos' you've got a ton of hair I can mess around with, that's why."

Normally she wouldn't have trusted him with her hair but ever since he gave her a decent haircut without chopping it all off, he earned some of her trust, at least with her hair, that is. So instead of arguing she settled into the chair and tried to make the best of the situation. Without a word, he decided on something and began to carefully section off her hair so only the bottom layer was available for his use.

"So.." He broke the silence as he brushed through her hair, making it silky smooth. "You gonna tell me how you fell down those stairs?"

"I told you, I just tripped down the stairs, that's it."

"I may not be a book smart nerd like you but I ain't stupid. You catch me n' Susie in the laundry room, then hours later you mysteriously trip down the stairs? Yeah right! I know it was one of those damned Macks, I just wanna know which one." He wrapped her long strawberry blonde around a metal wand and twirled it about halfway up to her head, waiting a few moments before letting the curl loose. "N' if you don't tell me I'll just go after all three of em'."

"Even if they did have something to do with me tripping down the stairs, why go after them? I mean I know you've had your fair share of pushing people down flights of stairs."

He shrugged as he let loose another curl. "Yeah, so what?" He avoided the question all together as he continued to curl her blonde hair. "Tell me which one."

"None."

He 'gently' yanked on her hair, a yank that wasn't intended to hurt her at all. "I'm going to them anyways so I guess it don't matter then, huh."

She blew out a breath of hair so her bangs weren't caught in her long curled eyelashes. "It was Susie."

"I knew it was that little bitch!" He sounded like he had won a battle with that devious chuckle once she said the name, a lopsided grin on his face as he continued his work. "She say why or what?"

"No.. She was standing near the stairwell when I approached and she looked really unsure of herself but I didn't really think anything of it so I took one step down the stairwell, felt a pair of hands on my back then I just tripped down. All there is to it."

"Huh." He removed the clamp holding the left portion of her hair and placed it upon the counter, letting the thick layer of hair flow down for his use. "Can't believe she had it in her."

"That's what I thought.. So _are_ you going to say something to her? Because I'd rather you didn't."

"Why?"

"Because it would make more drama than necessary, that's _why_!"

"Janis, she pushed you down the fuckin' stairs and you're complainin' you don't want anymore drama? You really did hit your head too hard, damn! You can't let people stomp all over you anymore!"

"I'm not going to do anything about it, and you shouldn't either."

"Like hell I shouldn't..." He stayed quiet the rest of the hair-styling, and when he was finished, he grimaced and turned her chair toward the mirror. "See? Didn't even take that long and you don't look like you just rolled outta bed!"

"Because I did basically just roll out of bed!" She gently pet the long, loose curls that hung from her head with slight awe. She had to admit, her hair did look a lot better when it wasn't just hastily strung up into a ponytail and had some care put into it, and oddly enough, Butch looked pretty enamored with it as well as he proudly stared down at it. "I actually really like it Butch, thanks."

"Yeah, I knew you would." He replied casually with a smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Now no one in this house hasta look like a slob."

She knew that was supposed to sound nice, or at least she hoped. "Well I don't have time in the morning everyday to do this since you're in here for a good chunk of time." He shoved all of the supplied back where they belonged, which was anywhere he felt like pushing them.

"Yeah well this bathroom's big enough for us both to get ready - so I guess I can let you in _only_ if you're gonna do your hair all nice."

She smirked. "Fine." He grabbed the top of the chair and hauled it right back over to the bed, dumping her on top of the sheets.

"Need anythin' else? I wanna go out for a bit n' smoke a few cigarettes."

"Hm, I think I'm good for now. You can turn on the TV since you're right there, though." She watched as he switched the dial so a picture blurred into the screen, and once he did that he tossed the remote on the empty space beside her. "Thanks."

"Yeah.. I'll catch you later."

When the front door slid behind him, he knew he had to do something. He stuck a cigarette between his lips, dug around in his pocket for his silver zippo, and lit the end. After a long drag, he nodded to himself. Gotta find that little bitch. He started off down the hallway, stealthily looking around corners as if he were stalking his prey. That's when he saw her, at the end of a long narrow hallway, reading something on her pipboy as she leaned up against the wall, every last bit of her attention was drawn away. Usually he only sought after Susie when he wanted to tap some tail and Christine Kendall wasn't immediately within the vicinity, but this was a special occasion. He wasn't going to sneak her into a broom closet and have her, instead, he was going to threaten her until she cried, cried so bad she wouldn't even want to be in the same room as Janis.

He took one last long drag from his cigarette before letting it float to the floor, where he then ground it in with the tip of his boot, Susie still in his sights. He nonchalantly strode down the hallway, jaw locked tight, eyes burning, just the image of Susie having the gall to push Janis down the stairs burned a ball of hatred in the pit of his stomach and his fists tremble with anger. When his heavy combat boots were within earshot of Susie, her head snapped up from the screen of her pipboy, eyes flashing with excitement, a smile gracing her face. They were both thinking of opposite things.

"Hey Butch." She greeted with a warm smile, but he didn't buy into it. Still, he didn't want a fight in the middle of the hallway, so he remained silent. "You look tense."

"Cos' I am. Got somewhere private we can go to?"

A sly, devious grin found a way on her face. "Yeah I know I place." She motioned with her head to follow along right behind her, so he did, pretending like nothing was out of the ordinary and this was just another hookup like usual. He followed her down a small maintenance hallway and into a tool closet, the door sliding shut behind him.

She outreached her right arm toward him and with his sneaky quick reflexes his wrapped his fingers around her small wrist and strategically twisted it up against the small of her back, pushing her up against the wall. She didn't quite catch what exactly was going on as she dryly chuckled, trying to look over her shoulder at him with a wry smile. He huffed silently. He didn't want her thinking this was just for fun, so he twisted her arm further until she winced in pain. "O-ow, Butch, you're hurting me..!"

"You know what must have hurt?" He hissed almost silently, smacking his free hand against the wall in front of her face, slight fear flashing before her eyes.

"W-what?"

"Bein' pushed down the stairs.. Ring any bells, huh?"

She pressed her lips into a thin line as she clamped her eyelids closed. "No-"

"-yeah you know what I'm talkin' about Susie. Why the fuck would you do that?"

"B-because! I was scared she was gonna tell Wally about what she saw!" She sputtered out as she tried to struggle against him, attempting to free her arm from his hand by wriggling it around but it was no use - he was a hell of a lot stronger than she was. So she gave up, letting out a small shaky sigh as she silently admitted defeat. "I didn't know what Wally would do to you if he found out."

"So you think I can't hold Wally off, s'that it?" He felt slightly offended actually. First it was Janis making jabs at his strength compared to Wally's, and now it was Susie? He knew they were siblings and all but damn, he thought that it was just vault fact that he was the strongest tunnel snake.

"N-no! But he could tell Stevie too!"

"Damn, girl!" Now he felt appalled! He took a step back and with one arm flung her much smaller body to the ground, the corner of his lip twitching upward as he heard her yelp in pain. "You really got no faith in me, huh. I could take both Wally AND Stevie at the same time and still win!" Stevie may be pretty buff and had a lot of training under his belt, but nothing could compare to Butch's prowess with his beloved toothpick. He watched her whimper in pain in a ball on the floor, slightly trembling, looking immensely terrified and betrayed.

"W-why are you being so c-cruel?!" She spat out through her tears, mouth twisting up into a sour frown, eyes squinting through the darkness. "I never thought you'd give a fuck!"

Butch knelt down beside her as he lit a cigarette. "Face it Susie, you're gettin' your ass dumped." He took one long drag, and blew the white smoke into her face with a smirk.

"Because of what? Jeez, I did nothing wrong!" Although she spoke through her teeth and audibly sounded beyond angry, her face read otherwise, as her cheeks were stained with tears and were a blotchy red color. He hated girls when they were an emotional mess like this.

"Cos' you pushed Janis down the stairs, weren't you listening?" He drawled as he stood up and meandered over to the sliding door. "N' if you do it again I swear to God I'll break all your bones." He left on a high note with a smirk on his face. He knew for sure Susie wasn't going to be bothering Janis any time soon.

* * *

_owo. sometimes when I'm rereading what I wrote I get nervous that I'm progressing his character too quickly or he's severely out of character, so please tell me if it's too much too fast and if I'm keeping him in character or not! thank you for the support through the reviews, I love them all! _

_disclaimer:me no own fallout3_


	7. Chapter 7

_Project Procreation_

_7_

* * *

When Butch returned home, he decided against telling Janis about what he did to Susie. Janis was so uptight about everything, whereas he was her polar opposite - he confronted the problem rather than running away from it like she did. He couldn't blame her, though, since he was her biggest problem growing up and if she confronted him he'd just mess her up some more, but now he was going to fix her, condition her to stand up for herself. Maybe not the way he fixed things, like threatening people until they broke down and tell them he'd break their bones - but maybe Janis could learn to raise her voice a little more.

He leaned against the doorway into his bedroom, watching the television set idly, but through his peripheral vision he watched Janis. She remained silent as her glazed over hazel eyes watched the tv as if she were a zombie, finger on the channel button, threatening to flip to the next channel. She looked like a regular old housewife like in the show she was watching, with her long hair curled like a movie star, radiant face that was free of makeup, yet like the women in the shows, she looked sad and worn out. It made him feel uncomfortable. He was never good at consoling, or caring for other people for that matter, so when someone was visibly upset he didn't know what to do with himself, so he usually just left the premises. But seeing as how she was his housemate he had to do something that would ease the tension.

"Hey... Whadup with you?" He took a small step into the room as he idly stuffed his hands into his pockets, eyes looking everywhere but her. He didn't know how to initiate small talk with her - she was always the one to start.

"Hm?" She lazily looked to her left, eyes scanning him over. "Just watching some tv I guess.. Why do you only have three channels? Everything playing is so boring."

He shrugged as he took a seat on his regular side of his bed, leaning against the headboard and crossing his combat boot clad ankles. "They're expensive as shit, that's why."

"I'm surprised. I would have thought you had the movie channel, since they play a lot of the kind of movies you like."

"Eh, I don't spend a lotta time in my room, so I don't see the point in paying for the subscription. It's just a money grab, and they play for free in the rec room."

"I guess that makes sense." She went to the next channel up to see what was playing. "Still, all of these are old commercials and tv shows we've all seen thousands of times. I mean the Overseer has never approved any shows since we were born."

"Because he's a stale old fuck that's why, can't expect him to do jack shit for anyone that isn't directly affecting him and his vault."

She nodded along to his words as she swapped to the last channel, pressing her lips into a thin line as it was yet another commercial for the vaults diner, severely outdated and the script? Everyone in the vault memorized that stupid catchy tune. "Amata's tried to get him to authorize some shows in the catalog, but that was fruitless."

"Maybe when he kicks the bucket we can finally have some new shows." He smirked at the thought - the PA system would slowly kick into effect and Amata's saddened voice would fill their ears._ My father has sadly passed away, and as his subordinate, I will become the new Overseer_. They'd attend some sort of wake for the old fart and he would laugh when they slid his dead body into the incinerator. The parties would be endless for him. "So you're only sad lookin' cos' you don't like the channels I've got?"

"I didn't know I was sad looking, or should I say, I didn't know you could notice those things."

Like hell he didn't notice things like that! He noticed, but he failed to care in the slightest was all it truly was. "So, you sad or not?" She was a confusing gal', that was for sure. Confusing and secretive, and he found it quite alluring.

"More bored than sad. I don't like lounging around doing nothing." She sighed slowly as she tapped the up channel button, returning to her first television show. When he looked in her eyes he could see the tv perfectly in her glazed over eyes. "And my head hurts too much to focus on reading."

"That's a first for you - whenever I see you you've got your nose stuffed in a book." He didn't know if he liked Janis when she was in this state. It wasn't her normal self and it was making him nervous and antsy. He didn't like it when she was off in some stupid dream land with those medical journals and textbooks she was always studying but now he felt like he had to force her to read just to make himself feel like things were normal. "You sure there isn't somethin' around here you could do?"

"I'm sure." She smiled faintly. "You can stop worrying."

"I-it ain't that! Just lookin at you's makin' me bored, is all!" _She's onto me_. He puffed out his bottom lip angrily. "I couldn't care less!"

"Uh-huh." She pressed the small red button on the top of the remote and looked at him with her big flashy hazel eyes. "Since you're not busy and all.." She had a sheepish look on her face. "Can you make me something to eat?"

...

About a week later, Janis and Amata had found that they had the same days off, so they made plans to hang out in the rec room. Amata showed up at their apartment with a few knocks on the metal door, awaiting Janis' face to greet her. She was unpleasantly surprised to see Butch open the door for her, as he too seemed not too thrilled to see her at his home. He looked as though he bit his tongue as he stalked back to his bedroom and shut the door behind him, leaving the two girls alone in the apartment.

"Well that's a first." Amata crossed her arms over her chest as her brows knitted together in a curious manner, watching Butch's door through her peripheral vision.

"What was?" Janis smiled, just finishing lacing her right boot.

"Butch has never seen me and not hurled an insult my way is all." She strolled alongside her best friend as they left the apartment. "I didn't think you had it in you, to tame Butch."

"Eh, he's not all that bad when you guilt him enough about the numerous beatings, and I didn't really even try and guilt him, he did it to himself." She shrugged with a slight chuckle as they descended down the hallway. "He's still a pain to live with though."

"I imagine."

"How's Wally?" They entered the rec room and they were surprised to find themselves one of the only ones in there, so they quickly took the favored booth where you could see the television set, be near the radio, and be steps away from Andy. "I forget to ask nearly every time I see you."

"Decent I guess. We don't really talk, and when we do it's for a few moments or less, but.." Both girls looked up when the sliding door screeched open, revealing the next horde of people to crowd the rec room like most days. Janis wasn't peeved in the slightest that it was the group of girls her and Amata despised, mainly made up of Monica, Janice, Christine, Susie, and two other girls they never really remembered.

Janis noticed how Susie didn't dare look in her direction. At first she didn't question it - she supposed if she herself pushed somebody down a flight of stairs she would steer clear of them, but Susie was different. Since rumors surfaced about her and Butch a long time ago she'd always act so tough and higher than the rest of the girls their year, but now she looked like some sort of new girl that was being shown around. Maybe she was still embarrassed she was caught in the laundry room, so Janis shrugged it off.

When Andy opened up shop in the rec room the line was already long, so Amata and Janis decided to occupy their booth until everybody was served - praying the bottled Coke would not be sold out already. When the line died down a little bit, Janis took to her feet and asked Amata if there was anything else besides a bottle of coke and a bag of chips. Whilst waiting patiently in line, Susie still had her back turned toward her. Still thinking nothing of it, Janis gathered the two cokes and some snacks before heading back to her booth.

Bringing the cold glass of her coke bottle to her lips, she idly noticed how odd Amata was acting. She was quieter than usual, and stared into the abyss of her coke, completely silent. Janis didn't like how odd everyone was acting. "Something on your mind that you need to talk about...?"

"Yeah, there is-"

"Move a lil' bit." Of course Butch was always there to ruin the moment, as he nudged Janis' side with his hip, indicating he wanted to take a seat at the booth.

She moved a tiny bit, looking at him with a stooped face. "There are some_ free_ booths over there." She pointed to the still vacant booth over in the corner.

"You know no one likes it cos' it's near the trash can, now scoot over some more." Janis failed to see Wally and Paul who were tailing him, and with a sigh, she and Amata scooted over around the round table until they were facing the boys. "Plus this booth is tunnel snake property." He tapped his fingernail against the wooden surface to where a small snake was chipped into the wood.

"Shouldn't you be working or something?" She drawled as she sipped at her coke, keeping a firm hold of the glass just in case Butch fancied himself a sip. "I mean why else would you be awake at noon."

He shrugged idly as he tossed some bills at Paul for snacks, Wally reciprocating the action. "Roberta isn't awake yet so I don't see the point in openin' up without her." Paul got to his feet and meandered over to Andy, obviously budging in line in front of some other younger kids to get dibs on the last of the bottled cokes.

When he returned, he caught the attention of the female group huddled around the bar stool area, heads turning around to see why exactly the tunnel snakes were lurking around in the rec room when they saw the most peculiar sight. Now why in the world were the tunnel snakes hanging around with Amata and Janis? And if they were sitting in booths together, they were expecting it was because Butch and his gang were harassing them - but no. Not one insult or threat lunged their way. They all cocked their heads to the sides and each raised one brow.

All except Susie, Janis noticed. Unlike the other girls who watched in curiosity, Susie took one look, gave them all a sour look, and tore her eyes away quickly.

So when Wally was busy chattering with Paul and Amata had excused herself to go to the bathroom, Janis squinted in Butch's direction and leaned in toward him. "What the hell did you say to Susie?" She hissed almost silently, bringing up a hand in front of her mouth to make sure Wally would hear none of it. "I know you said something!"

"What? How do you know?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"Well I didn't - but I knew I'd get that reaction out of you if I said it like that."

"Dammit!"

"Shh! Now tell me what you said.. She's not acting like the same person."

"Maybe it's just her time of the month, I don't know!"

"Butch!" She swatted at his shoulder with an angry-ish face. "Tell me already, before Wally finishes talking with Paul and Amata comes back."

He let out a small sigh as he pulled out his comb and slicked back one side of his hair. "Alright alright, don't go gettin' your panties in a bunch.. All I did was have a chit-chat with her, nothin' more!"

"Somehow I don't believe you. She looks like a dog with her tail between her legs."

He grunted in defeat. "Well maybe I threatened her..." She gave him a 'look' that meant he had to tell more. "And maybe I forced her arm behind her back - but so what?"

"What the hell do you mean so what..." She sighed and buried her face into her hands, shaking her head in the process. "My God Butch, I can't believe you did that."

"Are you really surprised though?" He smirked as he took a swig from his coke and leaned back in the booth, crossing his arms behind his head. "I mean threatening and shit's kinda what I do."

"I just... I don't know, I thought you had a thing with her, even if it was just for sex.."

He shrugged, and she knew it was the end of that convo.

When Amata returned, things grew quiet. It was just awkward to have the tunnel snakes at their booth, and both girls felt like they couldn't talk like they normally did. So instead they just tuned things out and with major boredom, listened in to the tunes on the radio. When the radio tunes became enough when the same song played three times in a row, Amata and Janis knew they had to excuse themselves from the rec room.

"Well that was awkward..." Amata smiled sheepishly as they marched through the open doors and began down the hallway, gripping her upper arm with her hand almost nervously.

"Hey.. So what's up with you? You said earlier that you had something to say but the guys came around.."

"Yeah, there is.."

Janis bit her bottom lip nervously. Amata was a great problem solver, so when she was in a tight situation and she ended up like this it usually wasn't pretty. "Are you in trouble..?"

"No! No, it's just." She drew in a deep breath and let it out shakily. "Me and Wally decided to just get 'it' over with.."

_Oh?_

"Well, Janis, I'm pregnant...!" She had on the sheepish smile she had on all day and a slight blush on her cherub cheeks. She chuckled awkwardly when Janis loudly gasped, shock written all over her face.

"A-Amata!" Her mouth moved with words she was planning on saying, but never said, as she couldn't find it in her to even comprehend what her best friend had told her. "I.. What? Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, I'm serious.."

"I'm flabbergasted!" She gawked, feeling the blood leaving her face. Amata was pregnant? What the hell? So soon?! "I don't know what to say... Congratulations? I.. Wow." Well, Amata was always a rule follower. "Have you told Wally?"

"Yeah, I told him this morning.. I mean I know it's really quick, but I think I feel better now that it's over with and dealt with for now."

Janis was _completely_ blindsided. Out of all of the girls in the vault, excluding herself, Janis thought that Amata would be the last one to do _that sort of thing_, let alone be the first one to have a kid - not including the little 'accidents' Janis read about in the files on the terminal. Plus, Amata was very work focused and got stressed out easily, so Janis figured Amata would wait a long time until even thinking about doing that sort of thing. "As long as you're happy, then I couldn't be happier for you!" Still, Amata was her oldest and bestest friend, and if she believed having a child this early was better for her and for Wally's life, then hey, she shouldn't judge.

"Well that's why you're my best friend, right?" She smiled happily and hugged Janis tightly, giving her a good squeeze before letting her go and looking at her with such seriousness in her eyes. "So, when are you going to make some kids so they can be friends one day?"

"Ugh."

* * *

_Short chappy, but I don't have plans for the next while so a new chapter should be up soon!  
_

_please tell me, is Butch ooc? I'm really paranoid right now_

_Thanks for the support! love you guys!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Project Procreation_

_8_

* * *

Time progressed as usual in the vault. Amata was still coping with working with lingering morning sickness, Alphonse was trying to convince himself that it was in the best interest for the vault, Wally was acting like a tough macho guy like usual even though it was quite evident he was still a scared little boy, Ellen was still taking her medications as prescribed and was by far leading a happier life, Butch was still feeling no remorse for what he did to Susie even though Janis poked and prodded him about it almost everyday to help ease her own conscience, Janis was currently taking on more and more serious patients that found themselves in the clinic, and James? He was becoming more and more distant from his daughter, seemingly spending all of his free time either locked away in his office or working endless hours in the laboratory.

Sitting behind the terminal in the clinic, Janis' eyes were constantly darting back and forth between the screen and the clock above her head. In approximately eight minutes Ellen had an appointment to make sure everything was moving along just fine. Like every check up the medications seemed to be doing the trick, but because of her prolonged alcohol consumption in the past her organs were slowly degrading just like her father and Jonas had assumed they would. Every check up there would be some new problem in her blood work, or yet again another ulcer would surface, so Janis knew there would be some hefty for in for her today.

She opened up Ellen's file on the terminal and created a new page, adorning the top right corner with a date stamp and her name, _Janis Hobbs_, as the doctor who was overseeing her treatment. She just finished typing in her last name when her ears perked a little bit at the sound of yelling. Usually it wasn't out of the ordinary to hear loud voices since just a whisper could end up as a loud echo in the hallways, but following this yelling was more yelling and screaming accompanied by the sound of shuffling. She wasn't going to pay any mind since she was expecting a patient, and Butch who always accompanied his mother, but then she realized - Butch was the main trouble maker in this damned vault, and if there was trouble outside the clinic door it was most likely caused by him.

So with a sigh, she quickly minimized the new page in Ellen's file and proceeded toward the door, the yelling only growing louder and louder and more shuffling echoed through. The door slid open and when she peeked around the corner curiously, her suspicious proved to be right, as the first person she saw was Butch, his snake clad back facing her but soon enough she saw his face as he was fighting off an attacker.

Her breath hitched in her throat for a moment as she realized it was Wally who was lunging for his throat. As the two boys scuffled Janis then noticed Ellen backed away from them, mouth being covered by her two trembling hands, murmuring things that were unheard. She looked absolutely mortified.

Janis knew she wouldn't be much help to help break them up, but as she didn't think that through enough, she rushed over to the fight. "Guys, stop!" Already it was so clear that this wasn't their normal fight. They'd oftentimes fight once a week even and it would only last for a few measly minutes then they'd make up and laugh it off, hardly ever bringing weapons into their fights. Even though Janis could see any switchblades or blunt objects, the vicious looks in their eyes looked so hurtful - looking like they wanted to kill each other.

When the words left her mouth it was like they were suddenly snapped out of their trance, only for a moment, but both pairs of blue eyes locked onto her. A look of anger flashed on Butch's face, while Wally completely craned his neck around to fully face Janis. While Wally's eyes were off his enemy, Butch flung his leather jacket off - Janis remembered in that split second that he once mentioned to her that he didn't get the range of motion he liked while wearing it - so if he was to ever take it off it meant something serious.

Wally's mouth curled downward into a manic frown. "Get lost!" He raised his left arm and swung it in her direction, not as a punch, no, more as a shove to get her out of the way. But in his anger, Butch saw something completely different and it conjured up something nasty within him. His fingers curled into a tight, white knuckled fist. He drew it back and just as Wally looked back at Butch, he lunged it forward with all of his might - crashing into Wally's left cheekbone and nose, sending him flying back to meet the metal wall behind him.

She knew this might be the only time they were apart for a split second so she took a step between them, holding an arm out so her fingers just barely brushed against Butch's chest. "Stop it! Both of you!" She groaned when they just lounged back at each other and continued to scrap it out.

As about thirty seconds passed of fighting, a security guard rushed down the hallway, the sound of his heavy armor filling their ears as he stomped over in between Wally and Butch, forcing them apart with a yell. "What in the absolute hell has gotten into you two? _This_ is more than play fighting!" He motioned over to Wally's face, which was covered in blood that spewed from his nose.

"Yeah, it's _not_ play fighting!" Wally spat a bit of blood to the floor as he continued to stare at Butch with pure hatred in his eyes, mouth pressing itself into a thin line.

"Wally what the hell's gotten into you? You're on a probationary period, you know a stunt like this could get you kicked from the program?!"

"It had to be done!" Wally glanced over to the officer, looking like a child that was in trouble by their parents, trying to explain why he did what he did. "He disrespected my sister!"

"Hah." Butch mocked him from the other side of the officer with a lopsided grin, wiping away a small smudge of blood on his cheek. He dug into his pocket, withdrew his hand with a small cigarette in his fingers, and promptly lit it.

Janis groaned inwardly. She knew this was going to come back and bite Butch on the ass, she just knew it - but he was too stubborn and prideful to listen to her, ever.

"Both of you, to the interrogation office!" The officer yelled and furiously pointed down the hallway with his index finger, absolutely fuming. Wally was the first one off, stalking down the hall with his fists still clenched while Butch laughed. He picked up his leather jacket off the floor, swung it over his shoulder, and nudged the officer away from him.

"I know where it is." He rolled his eyes and slowly meandered down the hallway, leaving Janis and Ellen baffled.

"I need you two in for questioning, since you both witnessed it."

"I have patients to tend to." Janis crossed her arms over her chest and squinted her eyes at the officer. "Do you _really_ need witnesses there?"

"They tend to lie to the officers and Overseer about what actually happened, so I'm going to have to ask you to reschedule your patients for a later time. Now come on."

Inwardly she groaned. She didn't even see the beginning of the fight, nor did she understand the yelling that lead up to the fight so really it was only Ellen they needed. She supposed it was better though, looking as if they wanted to crack down on Tunnel Snake activity for good, which would benefit _all_. The officer led the two women down the hall toward the incarceration cells and finally toward the interrogation room.

The room was bleak with white walls and four metal chairs. On one side of the room was Butch, seated on the furthest chair to the left, legs kicked out, arms crossed, ankles crossed, frown adorning his face, and his hair slightly astray. On the furthest chair away from Butch sat Wally, absolutely fuming, the front of his blue jumpsuit stained with crimson from his still bleeding nose, eyes squinting with hatred as he focused forward.

One officer motioned for them to choose a seat in between the two, Ellen of course taking a seat beside her son, and oddly enough, she seemed more than angry - Butch had never been reprimanded in his life by his mother for any fights or illegal actions he did within the vault, so he watched her with keen eyes as she sat down silently beside him. Janis took her seat between Wally and Ellen silently, laying her hands on her lap as she glanced around the room. It only had a metal table in front of the large bulletproof window overlooking the hallway, and a large filing cabinet where weapons were under lock and key. For an interrogation room, it was pretty intimidating.

It wasn't soon after she found herself a seat that the Overseer made his way into the room, the door being locked behind him by the officers. She gulped. She'd never been interrogated for anything - and she knew she wasn't in any sort of trouble, but she didn't know what to expect! Screaming? Threatening? More fighting? She shuddered inwardly.

"Why is it _always_ you two?" Alphonse sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the table behind him with a sigh. "I should have known! Anyways... Care to tell me what happened_ this_ time?"

"Can you at least get my mom to leave? She ain't gotta hear this. Or else."

Janis gawked as she twisted her head to the side to get a glimpse of Butch. Did he really have the nerve to threaten the overseer? She knew he was stupid - but this...!

Alphonse sighed. "Just wait, Mister DeLoria." He looked over at Ellen and Janis now. "Which one of you two saw the beginning of this fight?"

"I did."

"Alright." He switched his gaze over to her. "Who attacked who first?"

"Butch was taking me to my medical appointment at the clinic when Wally showed up out of no where, yelling swears every which way and they started fighting. Why, I don't know."

"So Wally was the sole instigator, yes?"

"Yes, but if he was so angry then my son must have done something bad to him." She eyed her son angrily and watched as he merely rolled his eyes with a sigh. "So I would blame_ both_ of them."

"Alright. I believe that's all we need from you Miss DeLoria, since your son is so adamant we get you out of the room."

She nodded as she stood up slowly. "Thank you." With that, she gave Butch one more glare before pacing out of the room.

Janis bit her tongue. It made her chest hurt with the amount of pressure and tension hanging around the room. _This_ was why she never got herself in trouble.

"Now - tell me what happened." It was almost instantly when his tone changed and his eyes darkened, looking at the two with a serious look on his face, and the officers readying their weapons. To think this happened on a regular basis for Butch was outstanding. They shut their traps, Wally looking straight ahead to the window and Butch staring down at his leather jacket he laid on his lap. She could only assume it was because whoever spoke first would be dubbed as a rat. "Well then, Janis, do you know what's going on between them? Since you are housemates with Butch."

She twiddled her fingers nervously. It would be an ultimate betrayal if she said something Butch didn't want her to say, yet she didn't want to get in trouble for withholding information.. "I.. I-"

"I threatened his sister a lil' bit is all." Butch put in coolly, as if it were no big deal.

Wally scoffed angrily and leaned forward, placing his elbow on his knee as he shook his head. "Like hell that's all you did! He threatened to '_break all her bones_' and twisted her arm behind her back and up against the wall."

Butch also leaned forward to shoot a nasty glare in Wally's direction. "Yeah, you know why the hell I did that?!"

"Not really, no-"

"Cause your whack job sister pushed Janis down the stairs, that's why." He said a matter-of-factly with a smirk, just waiting for the other to retort. All the while Alphonse listened in curiously.

Wally shook his head. "Yeah right Susie did that, and even if she did, she'd need a pretty good reason to do something like that!"

"I have a reason." Butch's smirk intensified, leaning in closer to Wally, nearing Janis' solid form.

"And what kind of lame reason are you gonna give me, huh?"

Janis didn't really want Butch to give his 'reason' because she knew that since he fornicated with someone other than her, the overseer would see that as a big old fuck you to the 'plan' and have him reprimanded.

"Cos' she just so happened to catch me n' Susie in the act, n' Susie was scared Janis was gonna go runnin' to you, so she was dumb enough to think pushin' Janis down the stairs was gonna do it."

Wally's jaw dropped and he immediately took to his feet. "That's it!" He lunged across the chairs, arms outstretched for Butch's throat. Janis gripped her chair underneath her and immediately scooted away from the action, as she did that both officers that were once guarding the door darted toward Wally and apprehended him before he could do anything - all the while Butch merely laughed at his attempt.

"You're pathetic." He chuckled with a shake of his head, combing his fingers through his slicked hair as Wally was dragged back to his side of the room.

"You better make him shut the fuck up before I murder him!"

"Yeah, how you gonna do that, Mack? If you can't handle two officers then you sure as hell can't handle me - I mean look at your nose!"

It was true, Wally looked much more beaten up than Butch did, what with the blood everywhere. But it wasn't like Wally was a horrible fighter, as it was clear that Butch took a punch to the face since he had a nasty split lip. It suited him, though, which she found odd and quickly stopped glancing at it.

"Alright, Butch stop with the comments, and Wally, simmer down! I've had it up to here with you two! Butch, how many times have I told you, any more stunts like this will get you out of the hairdressing shoppe and employed in the septic floor! And Wally.. Acting like this will get you thrown out of the training program and where do you think you're going to be sent? Ah yes, the septic floor!"

"I honestly don't give a fuck - you send me there I'll tell everybody in this vault about our little plan."

She just wanted to reach over and grab his cheeks, telling him to shut his trap - wait, what plan?

Alphonse seemed to quiet down as he breathed in noisily through his nose, contemplating his next course of action. "What is it going to take to make you two stop causing such a ruckus?"

"Before any of that, can I get some assistance or something? I mean I'm still fucking bleeding and you shits don't even care."

Alphonse sighed and motioned to his two officers. "Escort Wally to the clinic for me, then come and get me when he's patched up so we can continued this." He whirled around and angrily paced out of the room while the officers did as they were told and showed Wally the door, leaving Butch and Janis alone in the room.

Butch sighed and lit a cigarette while Janis switched to the chair beside him. "What little plan were you talking about?"

He smirked as he puffed out a gust of white smoke from between his lips. "He's got us threatenin' people for him, since officers get enough blame in this place, and in return we don't get in as much shit as we deserve."

"That... That makes so much sense." It finally dawned on her - that's the reason why Butch, Wally, and Paul would NEVER get in that much trouble whenever her or Amata were being harassed!

Butch zipped down the zipper of his jumpsuit and pried his arms out, he was still pretty worked up from the fight, so she only assumed he felt restricted by the upper half of his jumper. He took a small puff. "Yeah, it's gettin' pretty obvious now."

He stared at her as he idly smoked, analyzing her with those solid blue eyes of his which were so vibrant against his dark colored hair and tan skin. He wouldn't look away, making her feel a bit uncomfortable - he usually never made her uncomfortable but there was a different look in his eyes today that really got to her and she wasn't sure if it was in a good way or not. Then she remembered that split of his and she shivered - yes, it was in a good way.

When about thirty seconds passed she assumed he wasn't staring at her, so she just barely inched her head to the left and noticed he was still staring at her with cold, hard blue eyes. She puffed her lips out. "Why are you staring at me?"

He flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground, not bothering to step it out. "Cos' I realized somethin' when Wally pushed you away."

"And what was that?" She didn't dare look at him, instead she tried to just play it off coolly and look around the room as if what he was saying wasn't really her main priority. In reality she just didn't want to look him right in the face because, well, this was the first time she actually looked at him with a hint of attraction. She was always slightly attracted to him but seeing him in the middle of a fight and with a small injury invoked something fierce in her.

"Hey!" He gently grabbed her face with his right hand and forced her to look at him. "You're _mine_."

She squinted at him. "I didn't know I was an 'attainable' object." She swatted his hand away from her face, trying to read his expression. "What in the world makes you think that I belong to you?"

He shrugged with a lopsided grin. "Dunno, you just do."

_This is weird_. Was he in some sort of post-fight trance or something? "I think Wally got a good hit in, huh?" She waved her hand in front of his face, earning nothing but a small chuckle. "What's up with you.."

"Wally couldn't hit me hard enough if his life depended on it." He squared his jaw. "You mean a lot to me, you know that? Even though you're a major nerd."

She wanted to laugh because whenever he called her nerd or poindexter it was because he was just fooling around and jabbing at her ego, but he wasn't laughing, or even smiling for that matter. Butch never took things too seriously but it seemed like this was just one of those moments. So she suppressed a laugh, pressing her lips into a thin line to help with that. "..Stop staring at me like that.."

"Why?" He cocked his head a teensy bit, slightly squinting at her, now a smile was finally appearing on his face. "Makin' you uncomfortable?"

She breathed in deeply. "Yeah.. There's something wrong with you."

"Janis, there ain't nothin' wrong with me, get that through your head. I told you, it's when I saw Wally lay a hand on you."

"Well that's really noble sounding of you-"

He reached over, curling his fingers around the fabric of her jumper, and forcefully pulled her right out of her chair, right from her comfortable seat and right onto his lap. Before she could protest, he squished her cheeks so her lips puffed out like a fish. "Stop complainin'."

"Butch, what are you doing?!" She pressed her hands against his t-shirt clad chest in an attempt to push herself away from him, craning her neck to the side so the only thing she could look at was the wall - even though with him in the room in such a condition was much more appealing. "They could be back any fricken' moment!"

"If I gave him a broken nose, how long does it take to correct it?"

He placed his large hands on her hips and she couldn't find it in herself to swat them away this time. "If it needs to be aligned - he c-could either be given a filler, he may need surgery, or just a simple push in the opposite direction.. So maybe half an hour..." _Why is he asking_? No, she knew exactly why he was asking, but seeing as how she was caught in quite the predicament she refused to believe any of it.

She was starting to feel so warm - all throughout her veins, through her limbs, the warmth especially pooling_ down there_. She tried to reason with herself - it wasn't because she was attracted to him, was it? She was sure if it were anybody else doing this to her her reaction would be the same. It's just normal, and it has nothing to do with Butch! She concluded with this, but when out of the corner of her eye she then knew it wasn't that at all, and it was mostly because of Butch she was feeling this way. She breathed in deeply. If he hadn't stripped himself of the leather jacket and took off the top half of his jumper, leaving him only in that nicely fitting white tshirt, then she wouldn't have been attracted to the way the shirt hugged his muscles - especially during that fight. Then his hair that was slightly askew - but still managed to make it out alright after his tussle. Then that damned split lip - she didn't know what about it intrigued her so! It just made him look so tough and strong, even though she already knew he was - but it was just so... So sexy! That's why she had to get the hell away from him before it was too late.

_Oh fuck it_. In this moment of time she betrayed her younger self who promised to have him incarcerated

"Your face is as red as a damned tomato-"

Yeah - she knew it was, since it felt like somebody had set her whole body on fire. She didn't reply with a snide remark, or even ignoring this comment because she chose to do something she'd never expected to do ever in her whole life. She, Janis Hobbs, _kissed_ her lifetime bully Butch DeLoria.

She knew it wasn't going to catch Butch off guard because she knew he was leading her to this point for some unknown reason (she still didn't believe his explanation), so when she kissed him she wasn't in the least bit surprised that he was ready and waiting for her. He tightened his grip on her hips, beginning to rhythmically push and pulled her body against his, at first unbeknownst to her but when the heat continued to pool _down there_ she knew exactly what he was doing.

"B-Butch, we can't!" Although in her head she was being totally rational - they could be back at any moment, and there was a damned open window right there! - But her body betrayed her. She was absolutely yearning for his touch, her hands gripping at his shoulders, fingernails digging into the soft cotton fabric that separated them.

"You said yourself it can take half an hour Janis." He placed his left hand on her waist and tugged her against his chest, close enough that he could feel her shaky breath against his neck. "And you're not complainin' I see.."

She gulped and didn't give him a reply because she knew he didn't need one. It was almost instant when he stood up nice and tall, still with her attached to him. It only took him about four stride to reach the table in front of the window, and when she gasped in horror he smirked with delight. He laid her down on the table, resting his hands on her knees.

"No!"

"Pff, why not? It's more fun."

"Because! It's a window!" She tried to kick him away gently but he was already expecting that, so he caught her foot with his hand. "It's not appropriate!"

"Just trust me, alright?" He seemed so sure about it - but he couldn't see into the future, so how does he know there will not be one soul that just so happens to stroll on past and see them! "I think I know why you're so nervous."

"Why's that?" She attempted to sit up on the table but he just pinned her back down by placing his index and middle finger on her left shoulder, effectively keeping her down.

He had a sly grin on his face. "It's your first time."

She huffed. She wasn't at all ashamed of this revelation. "That - and there's an open window!"

Butch leaned over and with a press of a button metal shutters folded all across the glass of the window, effectively shielding them away form any people that may pass by. "Problem solved." He grimaced and grabbed each of her legs, pulling her almost to the edge of the table. "You virgins are so cute."

"You're not making me feel any better."

"Well don't worry your pretty little head off - I'm a lot of virgins first-"

"Just shut up and do it!" It wasn't as if something had happened between the two over the past four and a half-ish months that led to this, and it wasn't some buried-deep-down feelings that she'd been suppressing because she knew those absolutely did not exist. The only plausible explanation was that this was the culmination of all and any teenaged lust that she never paid mind to, and now it was at it's breaking point and the only one that could quell her fire was Butch. She never thought her 'first' was going to be him, him of _all_ people, but here she was, alone only with Butch in a locked interrogation room. _This was it_. She'd imagined it differently. It would have been somewhere a little bit more comfortable than this cold metal table she was currently situated on - and once she wasn't clad in her somewhat warm jumper she was going to be literally freezing her ass off. Then these surroundings! She always imagined it would be in her own apartment, in a bed, not a locked up interrogation room, minutes after nervously watching Butch and Wally get lectured. Even if it wasn't in the best of places, her body still felt like it was engulfed with fire and it had to be extinguished one way or another.

She was right - when she undressed herself, with his help of course, she almost hissed when the cold shot right from the metal and sent goosebumps all over her skin, raising the small hairs on her arms.

Janis was always nervous about her first time. Sex was always a topic nobody really liked to talk about, and even the small sex ed class they had when they were thirteen was quite sparse. It wasn't that she didn't know much about it, she knew almost everything there was to it because she read almost every single medical text the vault had to offer.. But reading and experiencing were two completely different things. Especially with Butch - since he was so damned unpredictable.

When it finally happened she was pleasantly surprised. Knowing Butch and his personality she was expecting something... Painful - more painful than she was expecting from her first time, but surprisingly, he wasn't the rough n' tough Butch like he normally was. He made sure not to hurt her, as she was fully expecting from him. He didn't disregard her feelings in the slightest, and made sure to take things at a slow rate at first, making sure she was fine through the course of it. It was much more _sensual_ than she ever thought it'd be and it gave her some perspective to another side of Butch.

When it was over she had to take a long moment to try and recuperate herself, as her mind was completely jumbled and nothing made sense, not to mention such strong, intense feelings were still skyrocketing through her veins. Her vision was blurry, her breath was ragged, goosebumps all over her skin were now being raised and becoming aware to her senses, and a full realization of what they did hit her.

She sat upwards almost instantly, cheeks afire, one arm quickly covering her bare breasts. She felt dirty. Not because she did it with him, but they did it in a public space. An interrogation room for Gods sake! She gulped as she tried to find her footing on the cold metal ground beneath the sensitive pads of her feet, her free arm reaching out to grab her jumper that sat in a pile underneath the table. She only got to slid one leg into her panties when Butch spoke up, praying he wasn't staring at her as she tried to cloth herself.

"Phew, smells like sex in here." He smirked as he zipped up the front of his jumper, not staring at her _completely_, but still getting an eyeful.

Her head snapped up, looking like a deer in headlights, eyes the size of dinner plates. "What?!" She screeched as she shimmied the legs of her jumper up her own legs as fast as possible. "What do you mean?!"

"Whaddaya think I mean? It smells like sex in here!" He casually sat back down on his chair like nothing had happened in this room.

"A-are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." He rolled his eyes. "Don't see the big deal."

"Well.. Can_ they_ smell it?" Her cheeks were as red as a tomato by this point, as she imagined that scenario playing out with the Overseer.

He shrugged. "Probably, it's strong."

"Oh my God.. We're going to be in trouble!" She panicked nervously, licking her lips, absentmindedly zipping her zipper up and down to try and calm her nerves. "I knew this was a bad idea!" She furiously slammed her hand on the button in front of the window and the shutters collapsed on themselves, giving her some sight to the hallway outside. She could hear Butch tell her to calm down from his seat, and even though she knew he was right, she couldn't stop her heart from galloping a mile a minute within her ribcage. Nervously, she raked her fingers through her curled hair in an attempt to straighten it back out - from her reflection in the window she could see just how disheveled it was.

She tapped her fingers against her thigh idly. This was too awkward, and she didn't dare breath in through her nose - not wanting to smell whatever it was Butch was talking about. Slowly, she meandered back to her seat, clutching the sides with her fingers, nails scraping against the metal. Her legs were clamped together, from both nervousness and the instant need to pee.

Only one awkward minute passed when the sound of pressure being released was heard the the lock of the interrogation room echoed through the small room, the door sliding open to reveal Wally, the Overseer, and his two officers.

Her heart raced and she could physically feel the blood drain her face. If she knew there was a certain smell when people had sex she most certainly wouldn't have partook! When they stepped in she was glad the blood left her face - or else she would have been blushing like a madman.

Alphonse cocked his head when he laid his eyes on Janis. "What are you still doing here Janis? We no longer have a need for a witness, so you're excused."

She bound to her feet the instant the word excused left his mouth, with a small smile on her face and a polite nod. "O-okay!" Stiffly, she weaved between the bodies until she took a step into the hallway - once she knew she was free she darted away as quick as she could.

* * *

_hah. they did it n look who's all embarrassed!  
_

_Thanks for the support! you guys are lovely!_

_disclaimer: I don't own fallout!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Project Procreation_

_9_

* * *

She stared at the screen of the terminal before her, and although her eyes read the words she saw her brain didn't comprehend any of it. She shook her head and drew in a deep breath. She would have much rather went straight back to the apartment after the interrogation room 'thing' but she wanted to desperately clock in her hours - and be somewhere where Butch would most likely not enter. Since her father had checked up on Ellen after she was dismissed, the chance of Butch escorting his mother to the clinic diminished, so she thanked her lucky stars.

She placed her fingers to the keys of the keyboard on the desk in front of her, and with another deep breath, began to type the date into the report. She got passed the month and year when she groaned - she did not have the right head space to do this right now. She felt sick. She felt guilty - so so SO guilty. She was never a rule breaker - but she broke a big rule, a very big rule. _Sex_ in a _public room_. It was vile and totally not in her nature. She liked to right her wrongs but in this case... She couldn't just go to the overseer and blatantly tell him what had happened in there!

She kicked her rolling chair out from underneath the desk with a huff, burying her face into her hands. "There's no way in hell I can stay here..." She still felt dirty, both physically and mentally - she had to go back home. She stood up and quickly paced to the opposite wall beside her fathers office, trying to be as stealthy as she could as she slid the red pen out from the wall holder. She pressed the nib to the paper and signed her name and the current time - she wanted to get the hell out of there as quick as possible without her father questioning her motives. She silently slipped the pen back and with a few silent steps away from the door, she sucked in a breath of air and darted for the door.

She was terrified at this point - not because she still thought there was a chance the Overseer would come and get her because of what she'd done, but she really did not want to run into Butch at this point. She slid her card into the apartment's door lock - since it wasn't already unlocked she took that as a good sign he wasn't home since he usually never bothered to lock the door. When the door closed behind her she furiously kicked off her boots so they flew into the living room and instantly began to strip herself of her jumpsuit. Once the door of the bathroom was locked behind her she fully stripped herself of her clothes, leaving her completely in the nude.

She stared at herself in the mirror briefly before nervously raking her fingers through her curled tresses of hair. She worked hard trying to get these curls just the right way this morning - every time she let loose a curl and it wasn't up to Butch's 'standard' he'd pull on it (extremely hard) to bring the curl out and make her do it again. It took her the same amount of time to do her hair as he did his own, which was an amazingly long time.

She shrugged it off and carefully leaned into the shower/tub, wrapping her fingers around the silver dial and pushing it until the pointer was in the middle of the red bar. Janis felt dirty enough to have the water scorching hot. As the water that poured through the head slowly came to the appropriated heat, Janis couldn't stop staring at the thing on her neck. Her eyes widened as it hit her.

"Dammit!" She hissed as she padded over to the mirror and leaned it, cocking her head to the side to get a better look at the mark. "Why did he do that?!" She lightly touched it with her balmy fingers and groaned. "Stupid!" She furiously wiped the mirror as steam fogged it up. "I'm so stupid!"

With a huff she stomped over to the shower, climbed in, and didn't even notice the intense heat as it scorched her skin.

Whilst she lathered her wet hair in shampoo she remembered something. She tried her best to bury down what happened in the interrogation room but she hadn't even thought back to what happened just before. Her brows knit as she gently ran her fingers through her soapy tresses. _You mean a lot to me, you know that_? At first she didn't even know what the hell that meant and still she couldn't figure it out. It still struck her as odd that he wasn't the 'normal' Butch, making fun of her every waking second - it was odd, but she came to terms with it. Now verbally expressing words that came across to her as fondness? Either he was on some ridiculous high from that fight or.. Or he changed. Janis felt a little guilty that she totally disregarded him when he said that but as she remembered it - he didn't seem to care in the slightest.

That evening Janis was completely shocked Butch hadn't returned home yet. Usually he arrived a little bit before curfew, something he'd been getting better at over the past while. She supposed it was better this way though. If he came home while she was snuggled up on her couch then that would save their awkward encounter. Even though she knew she had to face him, she didn't want it to be now.

So she unfolded the duvet that was folded on one end of the couch and flung it out into the air to let it spread wide, then draped it over her body. She punched her pillow and with a sigh, let her head drop against it's softness. She curled up into a ball and brought the blanket up till it was beneath her nose and that's when she heard it - the release of pressure belonging to the front door. The dim hallway light poured in through the now open door and made his figure ever so prominent. It felt like deja-vu from her first night in this apartment.

She pretended to be asleep, but kept one eye open to peek at him as he made sure the front door was locked behind him. He slowly paced over in front of his bedroom door, tinkering with his switchblade between his fingers before he hesitantly looked over his shoulder at her with a puzzled expression. He remained silent as the door opened and once again, disappeared behind the metal.

She did not understand this boy at all.

...

The next day, well, evening, Janis found herself working overtime to make up for her short hours the day before. On her desk she had an opened beige folder which contained all of Lucy Palmer's medical files, which were extensive. She had a successful check up, refilling her prescriptions to various medications, making sure her blood levels were normal, and made sure her hip replacement wasn't still bugging her.

She was for the most part, studying Lucy's past medical conditions when a noise was heard.

Every single light in the clinic began with a small flicker as the mechanical sounding noise echoed through the ventilation system, then as the noises banged louder the lights flickered non stop, buzzing, flashing, going off for multiple seconds straight until an eventual 'end' clunk echoed through the vault.

She'd never experienced anything like that in her entire life so she immediately stood up straight as a pin, eyes widened, darting everywhere as the lights slowly flickered back on. She craned her head over as the door to her fathers office slowly opened, revealing a startled James. "What in the world was that?"

He slowly shook his head as he tried to work it out in his mind. "I.. I have no idea, I've never heard anything like it before. It would be best to stay in here until we get some news on that."

"Yeah.." She slowly nodded as she slowly and hesitantly took a seat back in front of her terminal, brows still furrowed and heart still racing. She just hoped and prayed it wasn't another horde of healthy, large sized radroaches in the vents again like seven years ago. So until the PA system hurled into effect, Janis' eyes were glued to the metal shutters that closed off the clinic and the large vent.

The static of the PA system was heard next. Alphonse cleared his throat before speaking loud and clearly. "Attention citizens of vault 101. Upon inspection, the loud noise we heard earlier was due to the vault's heating and air conditioning system. We had our technician, Stanley, take a look at it and easily enough, we found the source of the break down. Radroaches had chewed through the innards of the machine and have effectively rendered it useless for the time being. Now, this is nothing to worry about. The roaches have been taken care of and were driven back to the depths of the vault. As for the temperature, it is bound to grow colder within the following hour. With help from the workers in the laundromat, we have gathered up all of the vaults excess blankets, sheets, and pillows to help through this until we have this fully resolved. They will be distributed evenly per citizen in the cafeteria. We will call you down floor by floor to avoid crowding. Thank you."

"Great, the vault's cold enough."

"You've got that right." James sighed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Unfortunate. Well, sweetheart, I have a few tests that need to be reread." With that, James disappeared back beyond the door.

She didn't bother to start her work because her apartment was on the first floor, meaning she would be called down first to get the spare blankets from the cafeteria. "Will citizens of Floor 3 West Wing please orderly line up in the cafeteria as soon as possible." So she stood up and already a small gust of chilly wind gusted across her face, leaving her in disgust. If there was one thing she hated, it was the cold. She got used to the naturally cold temperatures in the vault, but it seemed there were a few rooms and public rooms that didn't get sufficient heating so when you'd walk in it would be like walking into the cafeteria walk in freezer. Now imagining that the whole vault would be like a walk in freezer - these blankets wouldn't be enough.

As she casually strolled down the hallway, the temperature began to noticeably drop - and by the time she reached the open doors to the cafeteria goosebumps had already risen on her skin. When she entered, she saw the long-ish lineup in front of a long plastic dining table, tons of perfectly folded blankets were stocked up behind them, being picked off one by one by the cold people of the vault.

At the end of the lineup was Amata, as she licked her lips and rubbed her arms, she spotted her best friend and quickly waved over at her. "Hey, Janis!" She smiled broadly, and once she no longer had to wave for her attention, she went back to rubbing her arms.

"Can you believe this?" Janis waved her fingers through the cold air as if it were new to her. "I think I'm going to have to double up on jumpsuits."

"I know! Poor Stanley, he's got a lot of work ahead of him."

"Haha, yeah-"

"Janis, what is that?"

"What's what?"

"..." Amata's brows furrowed and her eyes squinted, leaning in forward with a small cock of her head. "Oh my God, Janis!"

"W-what?" She hurriedly looked around with a worried face, blood quickly draining as adrenaline shot through her system. "What?!"

Amata's quick hands darted forward and unzipped the fully zipped collar of Janis' jumper, leaving her absolutely mortified. "That!"

Janis gently ghosted her fingers across her bare neck and then it hit her! "Oh..!" She furiously zipped it back up and a deep red blush covered her cheeks. "...Yeah, that..."

"Is that what I think it is?"

"..." Her face blanched. "Yes."

Amata gawked at her as they moved one space up in the line up. "I... I can't believe it! Why didn't you tell me?!" It was almost like they were young preteen girls again, as Amata leaned in for juicy gossip.

"Because I can hardly believe it happened myself.." She pulled her collar up to her jawline, nervous that everybody could see the danged mark. "And it only happened yesterday."

"Didn't Wally and Butch get in that fight yesterday?"

"Uh-huh. It was after that."

"Jeez, must have been late, I mean they were in the interrogation room for a while being lectured."

Janis pursed her lips into a thin line. "What would you say if I said it wasn't after the interrogation - but after the fight?"

"So.. During the interrogation? How does that work."

"Well Wally needed medical assistance for his nose.." She breathed in deeply and dramatically. "The overseer left, and left us two _alone_.. Psh, you know how it works."

"Jeez!" They moved a few spaces up. "I'm.. I'm flabbergasted, Janis! I mean I knew you and Butch weren't butting heads as much anymore, but wow."

They briefly stopped talking as they were called to the table, their arms immediately filling with blankets and spare sheets galore. Janis hoped she could weasel away from Amata because her embarrassment exceeded what she had expected it to be like - she just wanted to go back home, curl up, and pray Amata forgot about it soon. But alas she didn't get away in time, as she felt a hand tug at her collar and gently pull her out of the cafeteria.

"Well?! Tell me!" She looked so expectant, hazel eyes peering into Janis' very soul .

"I.. I don't know what to say! I can't really describe it!" It was sex, isn't there only one way to describe it?

"Well I don't know, I mean, me and Wally only 'did it' to get it over with, so it wasn't what you'd expect." She shrugged at the memory, a dull look in her eyes. "Was it like that?"

"Surprisingly no.." She thought back to the memory and only a slight blush crossed her cheeks. "It wasn't forced or anything.. Or fake. Beforehand he said something to me that I don't really understand.. _You mean a lot to me, you know that. _What the hell does that mean? Then_ that_ happens? And it wasn't what you'd expect with him either, you know? He was _considerate_ for a change!"

"A-are you serious?!" Her jaw almost dropped to the floor with this revelation, and her brows almost rose to the ceiling. "That's so weird! What the hell happened with Butch?"

"I have no idea!"

"What he said to you.. Now that's the weirdest part."

"Well, he said '_even though you're a major nerd'_, afterwards though."

"Aw, that sounds kind of cute." She grimaced with a small hearty chuckle followed by a shiver - an insanely cold gust of wind skyrocketed down the hallway, instantly sending frozen shivers down everybody's backs. "Jeez! Sorry Janis, but it's freezing in the hall. Let's talk when the heater is fixed!"

So after they departed, Janis returned back to a not-empty apartment. Butch was standing in the kitchen, prepping himself some food when she strolled into the door - absolutely not expecting to see him in the apartment since he worked today. They locked eyes, and although she desperately wanted to play it off coolly, her face betrayed her by heating up, and no it wasn't because of the still dropping temperatures.

She gulped thickly. "Why aren't you at work?"

He shrugged, going back to the food on the counter. "Roberta didn't see a point in workin' today."

"Oh." She waited for a moment before politely shuffling into the den and sitting down on the couch with her bundle of blankets sitting on her lap - and that's when she saw it. It was a mountain of blankets, a literal MOUNTAIN sitting on the lazyboy on the opposite wall. "Butch, where did you get those?"

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him lean around the corner to get a look at what she was talking about. A sly grin surfaced on his face. "Why does it matter?"

"I'm just curious."

"Stole them. There's a ton of extras they're keepin' away."

Her mouth gaped open. "Did you think, hm, _maybe these are extras for people that didn't get to come right away_? It's freezing out there!"

"Jesus, calm down. They ain't no extras of any extras." He began to stuff his face with food. "You're such a grump." With that, he was gone behind the door to his bedroom.

Well actually she wasn't being grumpy, he was just using that as an excuse to escape back to his bedroom.

She puffed out a breath of air. She kicked her boots off - only to strap on three more pairs of thick socks, and then stuffed her feet back into her boots to ensure her toes were warm. Then, she pulled on two extras jumpers, grabbed an enormous armful of blankets, and sat back on the couch, beginning to cocoon herself. Already the temperature was far beyond ridiculous at this point - she understood they were underground, but why in the hell did it feel like a nuclear winter was ambushing the vault?

She could see the tip of her nose was already red.

With a sigh, she flumped over onto her side, her head hitting the pillow with a small poof. She tried curling up into the smallest ball-form she could contort her body into but it proved fruitless as she still felt rather chilly, even underneath the many layers.

This was not going to be a good next few days.

That night Janis could not get herself to sleep. She tried many different ways to get herself somewhat sleepy enough to forget about the bone deep chill that hung in the air, but nothing seemed to work. She tried to meditate, she tried to keep the light on which usually made her extremely tired, she even tried to just stare off into the void of the apartment blankly. And it wasn't like this couch was helping her cause either - it was hard and made her back hurt, so whenever she'd lay on it pulses of ache would skyrocket through her body. Now how was she supposed to sleep with an achey back and frozen temperatures?

With a groan, she sat up and stared at the wall with empty eyes and a freezing face. Maybe if she just sat there long enough she'd eventually pass out from exhaustion.

So with this in mind, she sat like a gargoyle on the couch in the complete darkness of the living room - until the door to Butch's bedroom slid open with a hiss, her eyes flickering over to the darkened area with slight panic, as that noise had made her think there was a radroach in the apartment.

The television set in his bedroom was on, so she could just barely make out his figure in the doorway, his hands idly gripping the sides of the archway as he stared at her.

"Why'd you make that noise?" He sounded quite alarmed for a moment, and even though he usually tried to mask how his emotions were conveyed she could tell he seemed somewhat jumpy. It seemed whenever a radroach epidemic would happen he was on his toes until the problems were resolved.

"No reason, I just can't sleep." She made a weird sound as he turned the dial and the light in the living room blared on and she could physically feel her pupils constrict to the offensive fluorescent. "Do you mind?!"

"What's that thing they say-"

She groaned, "what thing?"

"Hey - you didn't let me finish!" He crossed his arms over his many-layered-jumper-clad chest. "Y'know, like what people do when they get trapped in the snow, they huddle up for warmth-"

It seemed innocent enough at first until she remembered something. "You do know that entails being naked, right?"

For a second he looked a little taken back, since she highly doubted he knew that tidbit of info, but he resumed his cool facade. "Well, it ain't like it would be the first time-"

"Shush." She clenched her eyelids shut. As much as she didn't want to share the bed with him, and as much as she knew it wouldn't really help with their problem of being cold - the idea of sleeping in a bed was extremely tempting at this point in time. Her back begged her to just sleep this one night in the bed, but her mind fought that - saying it would just be more awkward.

She breathed in and cracked an eye open. "Fine." Janis took to her feet and drug all of her blankets into the bedroom. Next she crawled up on the side of the bed that Butch wasn't too inclined to using most of the time, and began to rewrap herself. Butch closed the bedroom door as she did this, and when he noted that she was done hiding herself in her tons of blankets, he toned down the lights until they were left in the darkness. The bed shifted slightly as he pulled blankets over himself, and when he let out a small sigh of what sounded like content, she knew he would be fast asleep in no time.

Although she was mighty comfortable at the moment, even as twenty minutes passed, she was still awake, and by the not so rhythmic breaths Butch was taking, neither was he.

"You sleeping?" She whispered almost inaudibly as she cracked an eye open - even though it was pitch black.

There was a slight shift in the bed as he turned his head to face her direction. "Tryin'."

Honestly, things couldn't get more awkward between them, so she didn't care what she said to him anymore. "What did you mean when you said that I mean a lot to you?" She was never good with timing what she wanted to say to him - so she wasn't sure if this would make him angry or not.

"You're the smart one, can't you figure that out by yourself?" He scoffed, turning in the bed so his back faced her and that was when she knew this conversation was over.

With a small inaudible sigh, he followed suit and fell asleep.

* * *

_so sorry guys, had a lot going on lately! thanks so much for the reviews and support! you all are so lovely! _

_disclaimer: I don't own fallout3_


	10. Chapter 10

_Project Procreation_

_10_

* * *

Like the last time she had to share the bed with Butch when she was recovering from her stair accident, Janis was rudely awoken by a sharp elbow to the face. Though this time she didn't yelp in pain, but was seconds away from having a heart-attack, as her eyes shot wide open and the blood left her face at unimaginable speeds.

She gripped her face with a slight groan in the back of her throat, wrapped her fingers around his wrist, and flung his arm back to his side of the bed. And once that was done with - she immediately retracted her arm to the warmth of her thousands of blankets cocooned around her body. Feeling slightly distressed that the heater hadn't been fixed yet, she maneuvered from her now sore side of her body to the other, facing his sleeping face, which she found awkward. He looked oddly innocent , at least for his regular day to day personality, as his eyebrows weren't furrowed in anger or his eyes weren't looking like he was internally mocking you. Not like he'd done any mocking to her recently, but it seemed like he had a resting angry face, which now seemed dispelled since he looked like a completely different person.

She wasn't too irked when he woke up and stared at her with an unsure look on his face. "What're you lookin' at..." He slurred as he looked up at the ceiling, letting out a puff of air as he wiped his face with his hands. Now there was that regular look on his face, raised brow, harsh looking eyes, scowl on his face.

"Nothing. Just haven't gotten out of bed yet." It was safe to say, though, that she was still angry at him for not answering her question. "Not that I really want to, though."

"Yeah, s'pretty warm in here." He scrunched up his face one more time before nestling back into his blankets with a soft sigh. He emerged a few moments later, his arm darting out from the blankets, snatching the remote off his side table, and pressing the little red button on the top. The small screen faded on with black and white images of the highly repeated show American Bandstand. "I know I ain't leavin' this bed anytime soon."

She pulled her blanket up so it covered her red freezing cold nose, and replied to him with a nod, still watching him as his eyes were now trained to the small screen across the room. Janis wondered what he thought about, because surely, he knows every single line to this show like everyone else in this damned vault - so he was most likely just putting it on to ease the tension.

The beginning of the fuzzy PA system filled every single room in the vault, and both Janis' and Butch's ears perked up to the sound. "Citizens of vault 101. As you may have already noticed our heating has not returned to us, but rest assured Stanley and his apprentices are still hard at work to remove the burden. Seeing as how the temperatures are close to unbearable, working citizens of the vault are not expected to be clocking in this morning, unless you are part of the maintenance crew. Thank you for your patience." With that, Alphonse shut off the PA system and the vault grew silent.

"Pfft, yeah right '_thank you for your patience_.'" Butch sneered with an annoyed tone as he pressed the up arrow on the remote, changing the channel to the verily dull movie channel, which of course was playing To Kill a Mockingbird, adding to his growing annoyance.

Since he pissed her off by not answering, she decided to piss him off some more. "So, are you ever going to answer my question?"

His right brow twitched up a tad. "What question?"

_Figures_. "The one I asked you last night."

"You expect me to remember something you asked me last night?" He pursed his lips into a thin line. "I was half asleep."

"Hey, if you can remember being half asleep you can remember what I asked you!"

"Well I don't, so shut it." He suddenly became so 'enamored' with the television.

_Typical Butch_! "I wont until you just tell me."

He was always so secretive about his emotions, so it sparked more curiosity that he even said that to her that day - whether it be because it had a purpose or it was just the heat of the moment kind of thing. The only emotions that were usually evident with Butch would be the deep down love for his alcoholic mother, the adoration of his weapon, and the satisfaction he got from making others feel bad. She wanted to get to the bottom of this, even if it took a long time to dig down there with him.

"I don't remember."

She sighed noisily through her nose. "I'll keep asking you every ten seconds until you tell me, and if you truly don't remember I'll reiterate the question."

He scoffed from the back of his throat. "Oh, _please do_."

"What did you mean when you said that I mean a lot to you? I just want to hear you clarify it, since I clearly don't understand what that meant."

"I thought _you_ were the smart one-"

"You already said that!" Janis griped with a smile, kicking her leg out to hit him in the shin. "You're not as elusive and mysterious as you think."

He merely smirked, but silence followed suit as he felt he didn't want to reply to what she said, still staring at the screen with glossy blue eyes.

"Butch, please." Silence, so she kicked him again with a grimace. Sometimes the only way you could work your way into Butch's head was not being too serious. "It's been on my mind for a while."

"Jeez Janis, it ain't that hard to work out." He looked at her with a somewhat dumbfounded look on his face.

"Well apparently it is for me!"

"You're such a pain." He grabbed a fist full of blanket and shoved it in her face. "I thought you were smart!"

"You know I'm not like your stupid friends, I'm not gonna make fun of you." Janis gripped his arm, slightly digging her nails into his skin in an attempt to make him retract his arm, but he still was fixed on bugging her. "Just tell me!"

"You, Janis, are pretty annoyin' most of the time, but when you're not _I can stand_ you. Now was that too hard for you to understand or do I have to talk like a caveman?"

She rolled her eyes as she finally pried his arm away. "I understood that completely fine. It's just a huge difference from way back when. So how'd that happen?"

He shrugged as he slowly got out of bed, now standing at the feet as he stared at her, still bundled up in jumpers and blankets. "Used to look at you like a punchin' bag, but now I don't."

"Hm." She tapped her index finger against her lips as she worked that out in her mind. "Didn't you say a few minutes ago you weren't getting out of bed?"

"I want to take a shower. I don't like not takin' a shower in the mornings." He turned around so his back faced her, and scrounged around in his dresser to find some undergarments. He was a very clean person, so she wasn't too surprised that he wanted to clean the gunk from his hair.

She grimaced silently. She didn't want to tell him about the water.

So when he disappeared into the bathroom and the sound of the shower head turning on, she knew he was going to be upset. An unruly shriek filled their apartment and moments later Butch hurriedly made his way back into the bedroom, punching his arms through the sleeves of his multiple jumpers. "Jesus fucking Christ, the water's cold as shit!"

"The heater isn't working, so obviously the attached heaters to the water tanks wont be working." She laughed, nuzzling into her blankets. Seeing how cold he looked made her cold by association.

"Why didn't you tell me that?!" He looked so outraged, it just made the whole thing even funnier. Especially since his hair was soaked from the second long shower he had. "I can't believe you!"

"Because it's funny."

"Actin' like you're so damned innocent! Scratch what I said earlier, I can't stand you!" In a flash, he grabbed her ankles beneath the blankets and yanked her right from the bed, sending her flying to the freezing cold metal floor beneath them. With a smirk, he shook his head at her. "Last time you're ever gonna play a joke on me, huh?"

...

The next day the heating was fixed by Stanley and his amazing apprentices, leading to every single citizen going back to their jobs.

So Janis returned to the clinic and immediately felt right at home, even finding a smile grace her face. She always hated the smell of the sterilizer but now it was so welcomed, well, compared to the pomade and cigarette smelling apartment she was just living in. "Hey dad!"

"Janis! Welcome back!" He gave his daughter a hug and when they stepped away, he stuffed her arms with a thick beige folder. "We've got a major backup of patients today since we couldn't treat them for two days. Better get to work huh?"

"Oh jeez... Yeah, I'll get right on it." The folder was quite hefty, surprisingly, and she wasn't that weak, but she managed to heave it over to her desk before letting it slam against the metal top. In two days a folder this thick was compiled? Compiled in two regular work days they'd get one maybe two patients - and it was never for something serious, maybe a small cut or an infection. "Exactly how busy are we going to be today?"

"Verily. First appointment is in about ten minutes, so you'd better read up on our first patient and finish prepping your station. I've got a surgery I need to prep for."

"Alright, sounds good..." She began to trail off as she dove into her first patient. The woman had filed her appointment, and with her summary of her illness, she reported that she was feeling sharp pains in her lower right abdomen, saying they felt like brutal punches. Immediately Janis knew that this was appendicitis, and she grew shocked - appendicitis wasn't something you pushed aside to wait for later, for the appendix could rupture and essentially dissolve your other innards. "We have multiple surgeries today?"

"No - just the appendicitis. It's the one surgery you never got to sit in on, and if you are going to take my place one day you must know how to preform it." James began to explain as he was maneuvering machines around to make his surgery area more to his liking. "Except I wont be the one preforming it, you will. Now don't worry, I'll be directing you."

Now this is what she called a major surgery - at least from what she's witnessed in person. "Sounds great, actually. Anything you need done before the patient arrives?"

"No I believe I can handle the preparation. Read up on the surgery if you'd like."

She nodded and right away scanned the large shelf, hazel eyes reading through the titles of the many different outdated medical textbooks, all different sizes, colors, and themes. She found the text, a big fat text book that contained surgeries from A-F. "There we go.." She whispered to herself as she pulled on the top of the spine and slid it from it's spot. Blowing off the collected sheet of dust on the top, she took a seat back at her desk and began to flip through the A pages until the large bolded words **APPENDECTOMY** stole her gaze.

For ten minutes she furiously read through the procedure. It was an incredibly easy surgery, and she could admit she's faced harder things than this, but she liked having practice beforehand and she clearly was not getting her practice. When the woman strolled into the clinic, her hands were clutching at her abdomen and her face was contorted and twisted with pain.

Janis hurriedly jumped to her feet, as did James, as they darted to her side and helped her to the metal bed that was shielded with a metal divider.

All the while Butch watched from the window into the clinic with a cigarette hanging from between his lips. The hairdressing shoppe wasn't a heavily busy place most of the time, and Roberta was pretty lenient, so he'd always be aloud to take walks and breaks whenever he'd feel like it. Taking a long drag as he was almost ready to leave, he found a little bit of interest in what he was watching Janis do. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud, but doctors were some pretty amazing people. They cut people up for God's sake! And it was for good reason! Though it made him somewhat regretful of his decision to not pay attention in school - but his reasoning was that since his mother wasn't so good while she was pregnant with him, light drinking and such, she already put him in a bad place.

When he grew bored, he strolled down the hallway with the half burnt cigarette still leaving a white trail behind him. He didn't particularly want to go back to work for obvious reasons - he didn't like to work, and ever since he decided against sleeping around with every gal' he could get, things were getting pretty awkward with him and Roberta, since Janis told him it was mean to do that to girls (apparently).

Since her apartment was right there, he decided that he didn't mind being a somewhat decent human being this morning, so he took a step in front of his mothers door. She never locked the door, something he must have learned from her, as the door slid open to reveal the small apartment. "Yo, mom, you in here?" At first he took the silence as she was either sleeping or she went out, but this piqued his curiosity, so he strolled on over to the open door to the bedroom and saw her passed out on her bed.

Normally he wouldn't have questioned it since most of his life she was unconscious, but then he remembered something verily vital - she was sober, or at least that's what she'd been letting on. He spit the cigarette away from his mouth and his brows furrowed. "What in the HELL?!" He stomped over to the front of the bed and he felt rage like he'd never felt before, he felt like he had actually _seen red_. "Mom!" He gripped her shoulders and pulled her up into a seated position, trying to find the telltale signs of a drunk, and immediately he saw them, a slurry useless looking mom was in front of him. "What the hell mom, you promised me! You fuckin' promised me!" He bellowed, pushing her sluggish body back onto the bed in utter disgust, even his stomach was twisting and turning in way he didn't know he felt.

His mom was always a drunk, ever since he could remember, and she'd always tell him she wasn't a slave to the alcohol, and he never believed her. When Janis entered the picture after the whole revelation of the plan, he noticed just how willing to change Ellen was and a small spark of hope ignited within him. She'd been strong these passed five months, or at least that's what he'd been led to believe. He felt betrayed, almost, even though it wasn't his own health in jeopardy, but he thought parents were always supposed to be there for you, at least a lot of his friends had non-whack-job parents like his, well except Wally's dad... It really seemed like his mother just didn't care.

"You know, you really fucked me up! My whole life you've been the most useless fuckin' mom I've ever met, you're a liar, a goddamn drunk, a total fuck up!" He was left to pace in the room and the feeling of wanting to rip out his hair was ever present - but he loved his hair so he wasn't going to go that far.. He licked his lips angrily as his eyes flashed back over to her slouched body - he thought those five months ago were the last times he'd ever see his mom in this state. "So fuck you!"

With that, he pushed his way through their old apartment, shoved other vault citizens as he barreled through the halls and toward his own home, the only safe haven he could think of for his over the top temper at the moment.

As Janis wiped her brow with her rolled up blue sleeve, she peered up at the clock. "Well, that was only half an hour, pretty good, right? I mean that's the estimated time in the text book."

"Yes, you did superb Janis." James smiled fondly and proudly at his daughter as he finished perfecting the sutures in their patient. "On point, like always. Who's the next patient in your folder?"

"Hmm.." She folded the cover of the folder back, removing the patient they just operated on's file, and reading the next one. "Actually, a check up with Ellen." Her eyes flicked upwards to the clock. "In five minutes. I'm guessing it wont be that long of a check up."

"I agree." He commented from behind the metal curtain as Janis sat at her terminal and began to type away her report.

As fifteen minutes passed, her and her father exchanged looks. "What do we do?"

"Ellen is on the _must-watch_ list of ours, so since she's your patient, I'll have you pay a visit to her apartment, if you don't mind."

"Of course." She gave him a quick nod before saving her report and making her way out the door. The air in the vault smelled faintly of cigarette smoke and her mind drifted toward Butch, and she wondered what he was up to. She veered around the corner, almost passing by the door of their apartment when she noticed Butch leaning in the doorway, a cigarette in his mouth.

"Hey, shouldn't you be working?" She questioned him with a raised brow, and she knew she should be straight off to see Ellen, but since this was her son she thought he'd know why she wasn't showing up for her appointment.

He had the signs of a _very angry Butch_. Squared jaw, furrowed brows, sharp, piercing blue eyes, breathing in noisily from his nose.. At first she thought he got into another scuffle with Wally but he didn't seem to be roughed up in any way. "Roberta don't need me right now." He spoke through clenched teeth, another way of telling just how pissed off he was.

"I see.. I'm actually on my way to go see your mom right now, she was supposed to show up for an appointment."

He let out a half-scoff, half chuckle as he shook his head and ran her fingers through his slicked hair. "Yeah, I know why she ain't there."

"Why's that?"

"Because she's fucking drunk again, that's why."

"A-are you serious?" She had to admit, she felt her heart drop to her stomach. "I have to see her!"

"Go ahead." He scowled and shook his head again.

"If she's not able to walk, could you help me take her to the clinic?"

"Stop wastin' your time with her Janis, there are real sick people in here that need you more than she does, like the old hag Palmer, pretty sure she's gonna kick the bucket soon."

"She's still your mom though, Butch, I know you're better than that, you wouldn't desert her. Now come on." She gripped his leather jacket and tugged on it roughly, earning a groan from his mouth and a slap at her hand.

"I can walk on my own, thank you very much."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure."

When they arrived at the apartment, Butch demanded he stay outside and if she really needed his assistance all she would have to do was holler for him. Janis tentatively strolled through the den, and nervously peered into the bedroom, expecting a waft of alcohol to hit her nose, but nothing. Ellen was slumped in the bed, evidently breathing, but barely. Hurriedly, she rushed to Ellen's side and gently shook her to see if she was just in a small trance or nap like state, but the woman was out cold. "Butch!" She yelled over her shoulder and when he appeared in the doorway, she motioned for him to come over. "I'm gonna do some tests at the clinic, I need you to help me bring her over."

"Fine." He bit out rather harshly. He picked the woman up like she was a ragdoll and slung her over his shoulder, and in a flash he stomped out of the room. She followed suite, hurriedly pacing behind him as he rampaged down the hallway, half worried all the motion was going to make Ellen sick all of the back of Butch's jacket - and that was a confrontation she didn't want to witness.

When they entered the clinic, James cocked his head at the sight of a passed out Ellen DeLoria, but quickly sidestepped to allow Butch entrance to the closed off portion of the room. He (thank God) carefully placed Ellen down on the metal slab and with a raggedy breath, stepped away from her.

"I'll have her hooked up to the standard machines, and we'll get that IV in to check her blood alcohol content." She stated as she made sure yet again that the older woman was breathing. Her breaths were almost like she was in a deep slumber, it was odd, and something she didn't quite understand. Butch made his way over to the small seating area, angrily kicked his legs out as he stared out the window.

When Janis hooked her up to everything, that BAC was the first thing she wanted a report on. Nervously, she stood in front of the printer as James continued some tests, and when the small red light on the printer came up, she knew it was time.

She slid the paper out of the exit and her eyes began to quickly scan the words

Slowly, she lifted her eyes off the paper and stared down at Ellen's unconscious body. Without a word, she handed the sheet to her father and slowly made her way to the seating area. Butch didn't notice her presence until she sat down beside him, his hardened blue eyes watching her like a hawk.

"So, what's the deal with her?"

She quit chewing the inside of her mouth. "Butch, your mom _isn't_ drunk."

* * *

_oh gosh, the amount of people that want this turned into a mod is overwhelming! I don't know what that means though, like adding this as a storyline into the PC version of F3? That sounds incredible, but sadly enough, I know the entire plotline haha! _

_Thanks for your support! Love you guys so much, keep up the reviews because they keep me inspired and make me feel loved!_

_xoxo_


	11. Chapter 11

_Project Procreation_

_11_

* * *

"You remember the first time your mom was found unconscious, you learned of your moms condition?" He stayed deathly silent. His face read as mortified, but again, he his his emotions pretty well but since they were room mates she could tell the differences in mood. "Butch, your mom isn't drunk, we believe she's drifting off into the coma we spoke of on that day.." Usually she remained pretty professional in these moments but her heart indeed went out to him, because although she knew just how serious this was - if Butch was upset, that meant it was_ serious_ serious. She didn't know what happened between the two before she found them but she was certain it was horrid. "It's caused by prolonged brain damage, due to the toxins flowing through her body, since her liver cannot properly make them safe for our bodies."

Butch let out a quick sigh from his nose as he shook his head, eyes glossed over as they were fixed to the tile beneath their feet. It took him a moment to find his voice from there. "So's she gonna die or what?" He spit out through his teeth and his blue eyes were suddenly looking right into her own, burning with hatred and frustration, but she knew that wasn't directed at her, leaving him as no threat at the moment.

"I don't know.."

He raked his fingers through his locks, immediately looking away from her now, seemingly flabbergasted. She watched him like a hawk as he did those things he never noticed - the way he locked his jaw every ten seconds or so, or when he wasn't doing that he was moving his jaw side to side as he angrily breathed in through his nose. Or even how he ran his fingers through his hair because she knew if he were paying attention to his actions he certainly would stop messing up his hair.

After a few moments passed, she watched as he licked his lips and glance over at her for a brief second. "..Do you think she was, uh, conscious when I last saw her? I mean her eyes were still kinda open.."

"Possibly-"

"I-if she wasn't conscious, d'you think she heard the things I said?"

"It's hard to say, but there have been reports have patients that were in a coma still had the ability to hear their surroundings."

"Oh God." He rubbed his face with his hands. "Janis you should have heard the shit I said to her!"

Well, she could only guess since he had a limited vocabulary that solely consisted of swear words. "There's no way you could have known-"

"I should have though! There weren't no bottles around her.." He began to look panicked and immensely guilty, as if he was the reason his mother was slipping into her coma."What the fuck was I thinkin'-"

She curled her slender fingers around his much larger ones that were not as still as hers were, as they trembled with this outburst of emotion, still slightly slick from his pomade. With a slight reassuring squeeze, she tried to her best to act calm and professional so hopefully he'd calm down, even just a little bit. She could only guess the only physical contact he ever really got was from having sex with a plethora of women and getting into brawls, so when he didn't retract his hand from hers she took that as a good sign - and when he reciprocated the reassuring squeeze she knew that was the route to take.

"I can't promise that she'll recover from this, at least for now, but I can promise that I'll do my very best when treating her."

.

Later that day, as usual, Butch refused to leave the clinic, even after Janis told him many times Ellen would not be waking right at this instant. She was showing signs of heading toward the hepatic coma, yet her vitals were as if she were sleeping. So either Janis or James had to be on constant duty to make sure those vitals were on point.

Janis was sitting on one side of Ellen's clinic bed while Butch sat on the other side, arms crossed, eyes dull, face void of emotion. Nothing she said made an impact on him whatsoever, as he continuously reiterated his point of 'harassing his mother into a coma.' She denied that point since Ellen was already in that trance when Butch had visited her, but he had non of it, and then explained that he must have made it worse.

So essentially she gave up and pointing out the obvious to him, and sat at her terminal as her father took her other patients. She typed away all the information they got from earlier tests on Ellen when a small buzzer filled the silence in the room, only Butch's looked alarmed.

"What the hell's that noise?!"

Janis reached over and clicked the small silver button down. "It's lunch time..." She raised a brow at him since every job in the vault had simultaneous lunch breaks. "Are you hungry?"

"I guess so." He slunk his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket with a pout, not a whiny little boy pout, but an angry, _I'm tired of this shit_ pout. "I wanna go to the diner, so hurry up."

She guessed she had no say in this. She usually met up with Amata in the cafeteria because the diner was always so jam packed, but she feared if she said no he'd grow angrier. Saving her file in a quick click, she took to her feet and immediately Butch made his way toward the door with Janis on his heels. "You know how packed it's going to be in there?" She had to lengthen her strides to catch up to him, eying him carefully as he stayed silent.

When they crossed the threshold into the diner she sighed. "See, I told you. There's going to be no food left - and there's no free booths!" With a puzzled expression as he continued into the diner, she grew curious as to where he was going so she trailed right behind him eagerly.

When he stopped abruptly she crashed into his back, and shrouded in embarrassment, she backed up a few paces just in time to witness Butch retrieve his switchblade She didn't hear exactly what he said because of the constant buzz in the diner, but the people that were currently in the booth looked slightly intimidated and soon enough, they grabbed their trays of food and darted to the other side of the room. "I should have known.." She muttered under her breath as she drug her feet over to the booth and when she stopped in front of him, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Still doesn't help the fact that there's limited food in here." Well, she knew what was coming next.

"Jeez, just siddown." Just as she was told, she slid into the booth - the favored booth with the etched snake on the table - and watched as Butch meandered his way over to the immensely long food line. Again, he threatened a person who was fourth in line for food and easily enough, they backed up and earned a few grunts and groans from the others behind them. The diner was always a favored place in the vault to eat because unlike the cafeteria, the diner had specialty items and pop that still has carbonation. The specialty items? Burgers and fries, hotdogs, onion rings, wraps, fruit pies, milkshakes, and butter tarts. Compared to the boxed cafeteria meals like Blamco mac&cheese, pork and beans, insta-mash, and sugar bombs, all of those food items were bland and disgusting to most.

With all of these people in the line she was grateful it took Andy and a few kitchen workers only a few minutes to prepare each meal. So when Butch was next in line she assumed he was going to pull something sneaky sneaky to get out of paying but when he ordered whatever food he wanted he tossed a handful of bills from his wallet at Andy - Janis could have sworn that was the first time she'd ever seen him pay for something. And when he received his grey tray from Andy a few minutes later, Janis was flabbergasted at the amount of food Butch got.

He placed the tray down, and with amazement in her eyes, she looked over at him from across the round booth table. "_Why_ so much food?"

"Because you're so damned picky about what you want to eat n' I didn't want to bother listenin' to you complainin' about what you got." He stated a matter-of-factly as he reached for the first burger with a flash of hunger in his eyes. "Plus you know I eat a lot."

"True..." She inspected the tray, placing her index finger to her lips as she scoured over the vast selection of foods she'd been craving for a while. She reached out for the chicken burger, glass bottle of coke, and a little cup of fries. "How much was it?" She questioned, dipping a fry into the pile of ketchup she squirted out onto her burger wrapper.

"Why?" He took a large bite out of his burger which was followed by a long gulp from his own coke.

"So I can pay half? You're not the type to just give away free food."

He scoffed. "Well I don't want your money." He stated with another bite of his burger. He looked out of it at the moment, as he stared off into space, presumably thinking about his mothers condition.

As he zoned out and Janis munched on her own food, she glanced around the room in silence, profiling everybody currently in the diner. At the bar area sat Wally in his blue jumper, lacking the leather jacket that was always on his back since they were thirteen years old. Beside him was Freddie, who was usually glued to Butch's side but as he had not noticed the serpent king, he was glued to Wally's side - even though he had left the gang after the whole Susie blow up. In the both near the bar was the group of snotty girls, where most of them were busy chattering away happily with their straws in their mouths, but as Janis focused in on the faces, she noticed one was looking straight at her - Susie.

Janis squinted at her - why was Susie just staring at her with that stupid face of hers? Susie squinted back at her with slight malice in her eyes, and being the bigger person, Janis looked away with a frown and immediately caught eyes with Butch, who at first was staring back at Susie with a smug look on his face, taunting her. When he looked back at Janis he smirked and went back to eating his food. She knew for a fact he was back to using her for sex, so she was confused as to why he cared about Susie staring at the two of them. And then she realized it _sort of_ looked like they were on a date - which would explain why Susie was so pissy looking.

"So.. What exactly_ is_ a coma?" She found it kind of cute that he looked a little embarrassed when he said this. "I mean I know it's like, sleeping or whatever, but.."

After she finished sipping at her drink she thought about it for a brief moment. "Well I mean you've basically got the jist of it. It's a prolonged sleep, a lot of the times permanent, caused by illness or injury. If your mom does indeed fall into a coma she'll be taken care of in the ICU and be provided the nutrients she needs."

"Oh." He moved some food around his plate a little bit. "How long do they last?"

She drew in a deep breath. "Well, the longest they last should usually be about two weeks, but with some cases they can be in a coma for years.. But taking your mothers health into account, and it being diagnosed as a hepatic coma, they usually last up to eight hours.."

"Eight, huh.. Damn."

"But remember that she isn't fully in a coma right now, so there's still a chance that she may wake up. Just know that she's going to be watched profusely and she'll be getting the best treatment in the vault."

"Yeah, don't doubt that.. Just sucks that it's my mom, she's the only family I got."

"It does suck, it really does."

.

Later than evening Butch was still by his moms side, even though Janis was across the room filing some documents into the filing cabinet. He watched her in his peripheral vision while he was for the most part watching the machines his mom was hooked up to. "So how can you tell if something changes in the machine if you're not even watching it?" He asked her skeptically as he scratched his chin, raising a brow at Janis as she swiveled around.

"Well since it's nearing closing time I've got the machines hooked up to my pipboy, so if there's a drastic chance I'll get an alarm."

"Pretty nifty I guess." He leaned his elbow on his moms bed, rested his chin on his hand, and stared around the room filled with boredom. He'd kick his legs out occasionally, let out a long, painfully dull sigh every five minutes, inspected every utensil he could reach even when Janis told him not to touch them, and of course, poke and prod her, inquiring when she was going to leave.

"I'm almost done, just want this place cleaned before I leave so it's less work for my dad.."

"Why - he's gettin' paid full time and you're only gettin' minimum wage. Seems like you're doin' a fuck ton more work than him."

"Because I'm still learning, that's why." She droned on as she put away the rest of the textbooks and files. "Didn't you go through an apprenticeship at the shoppe?"

"Yeah, well, barbers don't make a ton of money so there wasn't a huge difference." He shook it off and stood up, giving one last look at his mothers unconscious body before strolling up to Janis, crossing his arms over his chest and an expecting look on his face. "Can we leave already? I'm gettin' tired."

She rolled her eyes, making sure the files were correctly in alphabetical order. "You can leave whenever you like, I'm not forcing you to stay."

"Whatever just hurry up, will you?" He stuffed his hands into his pockets, paced over to the doorway, and leaned against the wall, still watching her with a snotty face. When Janis finally finished and she appeared before him with a grimace on her face, he eyed her carefully. "You sure she's gonna be okay here overnight?"

"For the last time, yes!"

When they walked back to their apartment together, Butch veered straight for his bedroom while Janis stood in the living room, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a sigh.

"And your pipboy isn't on silent, right? So you can hear it-"

"Butch if I could give you my pipboy to sleep with I'd be more than glad, but seeing as how I can't do that you'll have to rest assured _that I will hear my alarm_." She gave him a small smile as she slowly took a seat on the couch and began to tiredly unlace her boots. "Just keep your door open so you can hear it if it goes off." She flicked her eyes up and shot him a glance.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Fine." He tapped his fingers against the wall as he peered around the living room for a brief moment. "You sure you're gonna be fine sleepin' on the couch?"

"I've been fine sleeping on it for the passed half a year, so I guess so." She glanced around. "Where are my blankets? I left them here on the couch this morning."

"Uh." He scratched his head as he thought about it, looking at her with a concerned face. "Well I thought they were the blankets to bring back to the cafeteria after the heater was fixed."

"What..." She puckered her lips out with a sigh. "They were my favorites."

"Jeez they're just blankets Janis."

"Well I use the expensive detergent on them so they were extra soft to make up for sleeping on this couch!"

"Well I guess this'll be a lesson not to waste your money on doin' that, huh."

"Technically it's your fault." She pouted. "Great."

"Then you take the bed and I'll take the couch, jeez louise you're a big baby, you know that?"

Any time she was offered a spot on the bed she'd take it, even though she knew any time she wanted to sleep there she could, but she didn't like giving him the satisfaction of giving up and sleeping there instead of the couch. "If you say so - but you don't have to take the couch, I mean we've shared the bed a few times."

"Glad you said that, cos' I wasn't too keen on givin' up the bed."

She grimaced as she took to her feet and meandered over to the end of the couch to her box where she still kept her clothing items, pulling out a fresh pair of undergarments and nightwear. "I'm gonna take a quick shower."

He made a grunt in the other room as she padded over into the bathroom, locking the door quickly behind her as she began to undress. When she was finished in the shower, she brushed her teeth, combed her fingers through her sopping wet hair for a minute before making her way into the bedroom to meet a frowning Butch. "What?" She drawled as she pushed past him, making her way over to her side of the bed and peeled away the sheets and blankets.

"You're getting into bed with wet hair?" He seemed so skeptical that she was actually doing that, as he crossed his arms and stared at her intently. "Who the hell does that?"

"I like to shower before I get into bed because then the bed feels clean and cuddly." Diving into the sheets, she emphasized her point by getting all snuggled into the sheets with a little smile. "If you did the same the bed wouldn't reek like hair gel."

"Pfft, I rinse most of it out before I get into bed." Now he emphasized his point by walking into the bathroom, turning the dial all the way so the sink was on full blast, and when he finished that she could hear his blow dryer and he returned with less greasey hair. "See?"

"Well you never get all of it out."

"What's it matter to you?"

"Why does it matter that I'm going to bed with wet hair?"

He crawled into his side of the bed and yanked some of the blankets away from her. "You're such a pain."

..

In the middle of the night Janis was awoken not by Butch's flying elbow to her face but by the insanely bright light of her pipboy. She was close to not thinking anything of it - a lot of the times she'd accidentally pressed a button or turned a dial in her sleep so it was a common thing - but once she heard the low buzzing that slowly grew louder she knew exactly what was happening.

When she pried open her eyes and peered through her blurry vision to the bright screen in front of her, Ellen's statistics popped up, showing what they were when they left compared to what they were now, which had a drastic change. She immediately sat up - only then noticing that Butch's arm was around her back, as he slept on his stomach and his head faces the other way. She clambered to her feet, still reading the stats, and hurried over to his side of the bed. "Hey!" Gripping his shoulder with a firm fist, she violently shook him until his heavy eyelids cracked open.

"The fuck's your problem..." He slurred through his teeth, burying his face into his pillow with a groan, falling back into a deep sleep.

"Wake up!" Nothing, even as she continuously and vigorously shook him, he was sleeping like a rock. She (somewhat gently) grabbed his hair and gave it a good pull but it proved fruitless, as he only twitched once. She tried tickling him, that didn't work, so she quickly skid into the kitchen, filled a bowl with extremely cold water, and marched back into the bedroom.

She poured it on his head.

He yelped and sat up straight, eyes wide open, a shrill groan emitting from the back of his throat. "What the FUCK!?" He snarled, his eyes blazing with hatred.

"Butch, your mom! Come on!" She gripped his hand and pulled him right outta the bed, earning a gasp .

"What about her?!"

"Just come on!" She led him out of the apartment and through the dim red lit halls of the vault, he was hurriedly keeping a good pace behind her.

"What's goin' on! I want to know now!"

She skid to a stop in front of the clinic door, earning a crash into her back as she swiped her locking card through the door, earning her a now open door. Butch and Janis almost wrestled each other to get into the door first, but as he succeeded, he jogged into the room while Janis stayed by the door to watch.

She knew she didn't have to rush up to plug Ellen up to more machines, because those spikes in her stats only led to one thing - she had woken up from her supposed day long slumber, and evidently, Butch couldn't be happier, as he was at the woman's side in an instant.

"Butchie..." Ellen glanced around nervously. "Why am I hooked up to all these machines...?"

"Oh my God, mom!" He cheered with the biggest smile on his face as he helped her sit up. "You're okay!"

"I don't even know what happened.." One minute I was getting ready to go to the cafeteria for breakfast, now I'm in the clinic..."

He perked up. "Wait, so you're saying the last thing you remember was gettin' ready?" Janis smiled from afar.

"Y-yeah... Can you help me out of these machines...? I want to go back home."

Nodding furiously, he carefully stood up from the chair he was currently situated on and gave Janis a half glance, knowing fully well he wasn't certified to unhook these machines. "Yeah, I'll bring you back home, don't worry." He reassured her with the biggest grin on his face and the biggest kiss on her cheek, and now he knew he could rest assured that for the time being his mom was gonna be okay.

* * *

_Ellen isn't dead! Hip-hip hooray! _

_Thanks for ALLLLLLL the lovely support, the reviews mean the world to me! Keep em' coming! xoxo_

_disclaimer: I don't own F3 characters._


	12. Chapter 12

_Project Procreation_

_12_

* * *

Butch was so ecstatic that his mom turned out to be okay that he gave Janis the biggest kiss on the cheek with more than enough enthusiasm.

Janis wasn't peeved at all, as she merely waved him off and told him she had to give her mom a thorough check up. While doing just that, Butch watched the two with the biggest, goofiest grimace on his face, looking like he was in complete awe. It made Janis scared that his moms miracle recovery gave him some kind of false hope that she'd have an extended life.

Butch stated when Janis concluded her check up that he was to escort his mother back home, and with slight dread in his voice, as only a few minutes ago Ellen had told them she was fighting for that grandchild. He told her he somewhat hoped that this 'false alarm' would knock some sense into her about this whole plan the overseer devised was nonsense but Ellen was stubborn and requested to return home.

So as Butch and Ellen crossed the threshold into the hallway and out of the clinic, Janis sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. The entire day that Butch followed her around like a lost puppy she had been preparing herself mentally for the time to come when Ellen would slip into the coma - not that Janis was hoping for it, but this recovery was something both her and her father did not see coming, so she saw the next best course of action was to prepare for the coma and eventual death. She knew the death would be somewhat easy to handle, she'd been taught how to handle the body and inform the family, but with Butch it was a completely different story. That was what she was really trying to prepare for because she honestly had no clue as to what approach she'd take, or even how exactly he'd react. It was definitely lifting that Ellen was alright for now and Butch's mental health was not in danger.

When she finished cleaning up the clinic Janis padded down the hallway, still barefoot from sleeping, and unlocked the front door to their apartment, finding it void of Butch. The only thing there was to do was to dive into those magical looking sheets, so with a sudden burst up energy, she climbed into the bed and curled up into a neat little ball under the sheets.

She sat up straight with a furrowed brow and reached over to Butch's side of the bed, gently patting his pillow. "Oh." She remembered how she splashed water on Butch's face to wake up up and that was the reason why the pillows were cold and damp.

Flipping over her pillow with a content sigh, she could finally feel the effects of sleep, weighted eyelids, her body beginning to feel heavy, breathing beginning to regulate - she was so close to sleep when said sleep was rudely interrupted by a large kiss smack on the lips.

"Wha-"

"I can't believe it! You fixed my mom up real good Janis!" He bellowed with a big toothy grin as he climbed into his side of the bed, laying on his side so he could stare at her with big googly blue eyes. "I mean I know my moms clock is tickin' but I didn't even get to say bye to her..!"

"I really didn't do anything Butch, really, it was all your mom."

"You n' your dad could have given up on her a long time ago but you didn't! Sucks that y'know, she ain't got that much time left, but... She can actually remember what she did the night before."

She rubbed her face with a sigh. "Well that wouldn't be very ethical would it?" He shook his head with a smile. "Jeez, what time is it?"

"Uhh, I dunno, I left the clinic with my mom about an hour ago."

"Seriously? What took so long? I remember her pointing out how tired she was."

"Apparently she'd rather hound me about givin' her grandkids than sleep. Jeez that woman's got a lot to say.."

Indeed she was sleepy but it seemed Butch was in that weird once in a while type mood where he liked to talk so she'd take advantage of that. "What exactly was she saying that she didn't say in the clinic?"

"Butchie all I want before I pass is to at least know that you're going to have a little one on the way and you're not getting any younger, I had you at seventeen, blah blah blah. Almost nineteen ain't an age I want to have kids at."

It wasn't unknown that Ellen wanted to be a grandmother more than anything at this point in her life, so rightfully so that pressured both Butch and Janis, both of which weren't too keen on letting in anytime soon."Yeah.."

"She's sayin' bullshit like she's not afraid to die anymore. She almost goes into this coma n' now she's suddenly fearless, what kinda crap is that."

She shrugged. It was common vault knowledge that Ellen was raised in a regular Italian household, religion and everything, so Janis just kind of assumed that death wasn't something she would be scared of, as death would bring her peace. Maybe since becoming sober Ellen made more of a connection with whatever God she was raised with. "Isn't that a good thing? At least she wont be fighting something that's going to win."

"Yeah, guess you're right there." He folded his arms behind his head as he dreamfully stared up at the ceiling. "When I brought back the blankets to the cafeteria this mornin' I noticed they were pulling out the Christmas decorations."

"Hm, it's that time of the year again, huh. Christmas time..." She completely sheathed herself in the blankets. "Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, my favorite time of the year."

..

Butch was right the night before. Most of her morning shift was spent transferring Ellen's file to the terminal and informing her father of what had happened the night before, so when lunch time rolled around and she stepped into the hallway a few volunteers were on their tiptoes on stepladders taping Christmas decorations to the walls. The decorations weren't anything specials, as they were the same things every single year for as long as she could remember - in the ninety degree angle where wall met ceiling, the fake fir trim was placed with mismatched plastic bulbs hanging loosely. Every public space was adorned with the old decorations, more trim, tiny trees, red table clothe, Christmas music on the radio, but the real kicker was Janis' favorite part of the decorations. In the large atrium where most of the vault meetings were held was the large fake Christmas tree, where on December 12th a lot of people would go as they were welcomed to help decorate the tree. There would be fresh baking to enjoy, courtesy of Ms. Palmer, and listen to music while (mostly) the children helped decorate the tree. The vault was a cold cold place but the holidays really brought everyone together.

She paced down the hallway with a small smile on her face, as she tried her best to walk as slow as she could to take in all of the decorations. As she passed by the diner she glanced inside, the jukebox blaring 'Silver Bells' by Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakley. Through the thicket of people she could already see Butch at his booth with Freddie on one side and Paul on the other, and for a split second, she locked eyes with him until she passed the doorway.

When Janis put one foot into the cafeteria she could already hear Amata calling her name from their regular table.

Guiltily, Janis strode up to the table. "Sorry about yesterday, a few things were happening at the clinic-"

"Pfft, Janis, I knew where you were at lunch." She scooted over, allowing Janis to sit beside her on the bench. "And who you were with."

"Oh relax, I was treating his mom so to save time we went to the diner."

"Mhm~" Amata giggled as she poked at her 'mystery meat' with her fork idly, scanning her best friend over. "Go get your food before they close access."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Janis hopped to her feet and stood before the bar of food, contemplating between the disgusting grey mystery meat or the sloppily made raunchy smelling sandwich in the cooler. Feeling rather daring (probably rubbed off from her half a year with Butch she guessed), she went with the mystery meat. She scanned her lunch card through the self serve check out and made her way back to her friend, taking a seat across from her now. "I thought you couldn't handle the mystery meat? Making you sick and all."

"Yeah..." Both women eyed the things called 'food' on their plates with disgust, both pushing the meat all around their plates. "Well the sandwich's today really weren't as appealing... As this.."

"Once you succeed your dad maybe you can finally change the menu so we don't have to live eating this crap forever."

"That will be the first thing I do, I promise." She chuckled as she took a small mouthful of the mashed potatoes. "How're you liking the decorations? I know Christmas is your favorite time of the year."

"I'm excited! I hope they don't leave out half of the boxes like last year, or the baking mishap with Ms. Palmer, but her health is a lot better now so I don't see her opting out of baking for the vault."

"Aw yeah, all those kids crying because they didn't get their Santa and reindeer shaped cookies." They shared a laugh for a moment, ate for another, and Janis met Amata's prying eyes.

"So, what's going on with you and Butch, huh? I overheard some of the girls, surprisingly not Susie, talk about how close you guys looked at the diner."

"Like I've said before, I'll tell you anything, but in all seriousness, nothing is going on! Strictly friends, Amata."

"You don't have feelings for him? At all?"

"Of course I do.. Just not in that way.."

"Well how do you go from hating him to having 'feelings' for him? I mean, I still really dislike Wally."

"I don't know.. I just know him on another level since I moved in with him so I can better understand his emotions and why he does what he does. He's not a complete jerk all the time, not wanting to dismiss what he's done to us in the past, but I can stand him most of the time."

"Gee, I have yet to see that side of Butch."

"Well, you're not seeing me with a big black eye or a stitched brow, so I say you've already met that side."

...

After lunch in the cafeteria Janis began to walk back to the clinic, but as how everything she does in the vault was interrupted, the reputation couldn't be tarnished, so of course she was dragged into a room that was not the clinic... But instead the diner. "Hey - I've gotta get to work."

"Lunch don't end for 'nother twenty minutes."

She couldn't argue with that, as she looked at the clock and the hands were still saying twelve forty. "Still-"

"You ate at the cafeteria?"

"Yeah I did, why?"

He meandered back over to the booth, which had an absent minded Freddie staring at the television set. "Because we all know nobody gets full from any food there."

She idly paced over in front of the booth. "Food access is closed anyways, so there's no point in me staying."

"Like the nice guy I am, I _bought_ you extra food."

Still slightly estranged, she took a seat on the edge of the seat. "I didn't know bought was part of your vocabulary." She took the tinfoil wrapped burger in her hands and unpeeled it carefully, eying him in the process. "Did you check on your mom this morning?"

"Yeah I did. She was up pretty early with some tea watchin' an old Christmas movie on the tv set."

Janis carefully nodded as she took a bite into the burger - boy was this delicious, well, at least compared to the disproportionate grey meat she was served half an hour ago. "That's good. Thank you, by the way."

"Yeah.." He leaned back in the booth as his own eyes were drawn to the tv set, A Christmas Carol was playing, absorbing eyes all around the diner. "I don't see the big deal with Christmas." He bit out rather sourly, crossing his arms and tearing his eyes away from the tv.

Janis stayed quiet. He liked Halloween, so she assumed he liked Christmas but the more she thought about it - Christmas was about family and she could only think about Christmas days in the DeLoria household. When she finished her burger she leaned back in the booth and stared at the tv for a a few minutes while Butch stared blankly at the wall behind Andy. She was watching as the Scrooge came onscreen when a glimmer caught her eye - a silver tray beneath the wall mounted tv set. Her brows scrunched and she leaned forward - a tray of sweetrolls!

"Where did _those_ come from?" She gawked as she pointed to the tray and looked at Butch with a flabbergasted expression. Sweetrolls were special occasion type things and only a few people in the vault could make them the right way - one of them recently passed so Janis was starting to think the delicious recipe for the best sweetroll would be lost.

"Old Lady Palmer said she wanted to start early this year to make up for last year." He shrugged it off and watched with a raised brow as Janis managed to get the second to last one on the tray and return. Watching her, as that look in her eyes made him grin ear to ear. "Why do you like those so much?"

She took a dainty yet satisfying bite. "Because they are delicious and the only baked good I really like." Reveling in the taste, the cutest smile formed on her face.

"Remember when I stole your sweetroll on your birthday?" Her face went from total bliss to completely void of emotion, pressing her lips into a thin line. She locked eyes with him, he squinted at her suspiciously. "Why do you look like that? What's your problem?"

"I remember.." It then contorted from being blank to the smuggest little smile he could ever imagine. Her heart raced in her chest. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure.." He stated slowly, as if he were hesitant on learning, but still, he looked somewhat eager.

"You have to promise not to be mad, okay?" She scooted in closer with a serious look - making him looked frightened, as she'd never done this before.

"I can't promise nothin', but you're gonna tell me."

"Well.. I didn't want to fight you on my birthday, but I was really mad at you for practically forcing me to give you my sweetroll..." He leaned in closer, now looking mighty suspicious.

"What..." He hissed as he squinted at her.

"I spat on that sweetroll." Once it left her mouth she let out a large sigh and she looked right up to the ceiling, placing a hand on her chest as if a big weight was suddenly lifted off her. "Oh my God I've been holding that in since I moved in!"

Almost immediately Butch leaned back, a completely astonished look written on his face, blue eyes looking rather befuddled. "You _what_?"

The biggest smile he ever saw on her face sprouted, followed by a breathy giggle. "Yeah - I _spat_ on that sweetroll before I gave it to you!" She was reduced to the most idiotic fit of giggles he'd ever seen in his life.

"I can't believe that."

"I-I'm not making this up."

He shook his head at her. "I can't believe you!"

"I know! That's what you get though, that was a birthday gift." She took another small bite and in that split second her mouth touched the biscuit, he slammed her face into it (not hard enough to hurt her).

As she whined about her ruined treat, Butch laughed. "Heh, and that's what you get for spitting in my food."

* * *

_this will not be the end of christmas! usually when I play F3 and the Butch/sweetroll decision comes up I mock him and his mom about her drinking up the rations.. and I don't feel bad about it because I make up for it by telling Butch Amata is sensitive about her weight. I'm a bad person. What did you guys choose? _

_Thank you for the great reviews! Love them all! Keep them coming! _


	13. Chapter 13

_Project Procreation_

_13_

* * *

On December 12th, the day of the big Christmas tree decorating, Butch found it appropriate to break out the knit sweaters. Well, singular sweater, as he only had one. Janis was making herself a small breakfast because knowing the amount of delicious treats that would be in the atrium when she arrived she wanted to save some room, so she was nibbling on a piece of toast when Butch emerged from his bedroom. "Nice sweater." She commented as she put her toast back on her plate and returned back to the fridge to fish around for her apple juice.

It was a pretty nice sweater, well it was an average sweater, but something different suited him. It was a regular red knit sweater with some designs that were only noticeable if you were up close and had a gold zipper near the neck. Of course over top he wore his leather jacket because he just 'wasn't complete' when it wasn't on his back, some would say it ruined the Christmasy look of that sweater. "Yeah, it's only nice cos it's on me." He paced over to the cupboard and brought out some food he intended to make. "You know, this'll be the first Christmas where my mom wont be piss drunk."

"Really...?" She knew it was true. "Well this will be a good one then, huh?" Maybe knowing he was finally going to have a good Christmas is the reason why he rummaged through his closet for that sweater.

"Hell yeah it is." He grimaced, still scrounging around for food. When he found what he wanted he promptly left the house with a half-assed wave.

She found it incredibly sad that most of his Christmas' were spent presumably making sure his mother wouldn't choke on her own vomit. She bit into her toast as she leaned against the counter, wandering off into thought. It made sense, really, as to why Butch was the biggest sourpuss around the holidays. He never got into much trouble during the holidays, and back in their class room days where lunch breaks were spent in the diner, his gang would always be gone with some mischievous plan but during the holidays - nothing. But today he had a hop in his step and although that meant he'd be getting himself into trouble, she'd much rather have it than a depressed Butch.

When finished with her small breakfast she locked up the house and merrily made her way to the atrium, where a multitude of boxes were stacked upon each other, thanks to the volunteers. Near the boxes was the large foldable table where Amata was currently standing, seemingly having a nice chat with Ms. Palmer who had baked a plethora of goodies.

When she approached she bid her hellos and thanks to the old woman before she waddled away to pry into Jonas' life. "Thanks, I didn't know what I was going to do if she kept asking me about the pregnancy. She never seems to like staying around you too much." Amata giggled as Janis reached over for a sweetroll with big watery hazel eyes.

"Well I'm her doctor so I guess it makes sense if she doesn't want to hang around me too much.." She took a bite of her sweetroll with a giant smile on her face, savoring the taste. "There's going to be none of these left.."

With a gentle laugh, Amata reached over and took a santa shaped cookie off the silver tray. "Yeah, these cookies are really appetizing right now."

"So how's Wally coping with fatherhood coming around pretty quick?" She spoke between the bites off her sweetroll. It was amazing to her that she didn't immediately scarf the thing down but seeing as how there were people around her that wasn't very polite of her. So she kept it classy.

Amata shrugged as she wiped her hands together to get the small crumbs off her fingers. "Eh. We don't really talk much.. But when we do I guess I can tell he's pretty scared. He gets all uncomfortable about talking about it.."

"Maybe he'll just end up being the kind of guy who's weird about it at first but once the baby's born he's a natural."

"Well what about Butch? Have you two talked about it yet?" They meandered over to a table to take a seat in front of the still bare tree.

"We've talked about it but we haven't actually talked about 'it.' Like nothing about planning 'it' like you did. Even then he's pretty confident he's going to be the best dad in the vault, so I'm guessing if there is going to be a baby born he's going to be chicken once it's born."

"Hm, it's a weird thought, thinking about him being a dad, same with Wally I suppose."

To Janis it wasn't a weird thought, but then again it was something she thought about on a semi regular basis. "Yeah..." She stared at the large tree before them as she finished off her sweetroll. "Weird to think that one day our kids are going to be decorating this old thing."

Amata smiled fondly as a response as she too stared off at the tree.

After she gleefully watched the young children string the gold, silver, and red trims around the tree Janis noticed the time on the clock - almost time for her afternoon shift at the hospital. So she bid her farewell, grabbed a snack for later and rushed on over to the clinic just a minute before being late. "You should see the tree, dad, they pulled out a lot more decorations than what we saw last year. It's looking pretty neat." She announced happily as she sat at her terminal with a small smile gracing her face.

"Oh yeah? It was looking rather dull last year." A smile tugged at his lips as he jotted a few notes down on his clipboard, reading some info off a screen before him.

"Mhm. So any appointments today or will we just be waiting for a walk in?"

"I'm afraid it will only be walk ins today." When he finished he placed the pen back into the metal pen holder on the desk. "If you need me I'll be in my office reviewing some findings."

She gave him a slight nod. "Alright." When he closed the door behind him she sighed and buried her face in her hands. "I'd much rather be at the tree than here." It was only once a year that tree gets decorated, and hey, her favorite Christmas song was playing on the jukebox!

"What tree?"

She jerked her head up with shock to find Butch standing over her with crossed arms and a raised brow. "Oh.. The tree in the atrium, you know, the big one." Taking in a deep breath, she leaned back in her chair and studied him. "Anyways why are you here? Wait, don't tell me, Roberta 'didn't need' you."

He shrugged with a grimace. "Actually for the first time it ain't for that reason." He sat himself on the metal bed a meter away from her desk, beginning to peel away his leather jacket. "I want you to check this out."

She scooted her chair from underneath her desk and stood up, squinting to get a better look. Once the black leather was stripped off his body he was left with his red sweater overtop and already on his upper right bicep she could see a crimson stain, almost hidden by the matching color. "What happened?" She strolled over and inspected his arm, lightly taking hold of it with one hand and the other she tugged at the fabric to see if it stuck to the wound - it didn't, which meant it was relatively fresh. "You're going to have to take your sweater and upper jumpsuit off."

"Yeah anything you want-"

"Oh knock it off, I need to see it." She rolled her eyes and stepped aside for a moment as he lifted the sweater over top of his head and toss it to the side. He then proceeded to unzip the torso portion of his jumper, followed by him sliding his arms out, wincing at his right arm, and letting out a heavy sigh once he was finished. "You gonna tell me what happened?" She carefully rolled up the blood stained sleeve of his t-shirt until the wound was fully exposed, still oozing.

"Eh, nothin' too bad. Just rumbled with Wally in the hall till' that wackjob officer Wolfe intervened. He took my switchblade." He puffed out his bottom lip dramatically. "Said he was takin' it to the incinerator for good this time, ain't nothin' I can do to get it back."

She couldn't help the smile that graced her face as she retrieved her suture kit and cleaning materials. "Well you know, if you didn't wave the thing around twenty-four-seven maybe they wouldn't have taken it." She dabbed a clean wipe in disinfectant and gently began to dab at the stained skin around the small stab wound.

"Well it's property of the Butch-man, they shouldn't take what ain't theirs in the first place."

Janis raised a brow with a serious look plastered on her face. "That? Coming from you, really? Isn't taking what isn't yours the only way you get things?"

"Whatever." He drawled with a slight grin as he stared down at his jacket by his feet. "Asshole ruined my jacket."

"Can't you just stitch it up?"

He shrugged, and by doing so he earned himself a hiss as the alcohol infused wipe entered his cut roughly. "No, cos' then it ain't gonna be sleek lookin.'" He bit out as he jerked his arm away to look at the damage.

"Okay then.." She tossed the rust stained wipes into the disposal and slowly began to thread the suture needle. She found it funny that by this visit to the clinic Butch was not even scared about the stitches, like most people, and wasn't even begging for the local anesthetic. "Can you scooch over? I can see it better if I'm sitting here." He did as she told him, and she hopped up carefully, positioning his arm in the light so it was in the perfect place. "Last call for numbing gel at least?"

"Nah I'm good."

"Alright~." The corners of her lips tugged upwards as she slowly began to thread the needle through his skin. He sighed a few moments later, eyes off in the distance as he thought about something seemingly heavy. "What's wrong now?"

"Man, I've had that blade for almost ten years." He pouted like a trout when the words left his mouth. "My Toothpick."

"It's just a switchblade, I'm sure you can get something that's exactly the same.. Do you remember, I think it was the year of 68, when I turned ten... Yeah, 68, when your switchblade went missing?"

"Pfft, of course I do. I made that thing from scratch the year before!"

"Well when my dad gave me my bb gun on my birthday, he told me he got the spring from your switchblade." She smirked at the memory, and reminisced in the days she'd freely spend in the generator room practicing her shot. 'The good ol' days,' she'd call them.

He stared at her with suspicious eyes. "Bb gun...?"

Her body stiffened and her eyes widened, face growing white like untarnished paper. "I m-mean... Uh."

"A BB gun? I'm pretty damned sure that's what you said and meant." He grew excited at this point.

She carefully snipped the end of the thread with her small scissors. "Butch, you can't tell anyone! Or my dad will be in some serious trouble."

"You think I'm gonna snitch you out? Pff, to who?" He checked out his closed up wound with a glimmer in his eyes. "I wont, but either way, you're gonna show me that gun."

"Ugh, I don't have time." She dumped the utensils into the sterilizer, finding a gauze pad, to which she stuck on his arm and taped it in place. "I still think you're going to go brag about it to your friends and they're gonna tell people and somehow the Overseer is going to find out."

"I swear on my life I ain't gonna tell a soul. As for time we'll set up a date, huh? How about that? We share Sunday for our day offs, so we'll do it then." He was acting like a giddy child awaiting a new toy, which she found mildly hilarious.

"Fine." She cleaned up the station around him, even picking up his leather jacket and placing it beside him. "But you can't end up ditching me for your friends." What was she saying? Of course she wouldn't really mind if he changed plans but for some reason she kind of wanted to show off her gun to him, and see just how good he was at using it.

"Oh I wouldn't miss this for the world." He smiled a real, genuine smile and hopped off the bed, still in his bloody tshirt. "Hold on, I'm gonna go get changed."

She didn't know what he wanted to come back since he was finished, but alas, she didn't question him. She took a seat at her desk and began to start her mandatory report on the walk in. Her eyes flicked up when he returned minutes later in a fresh t-shirt, jumpsuit, and surprisingly, a new jacket.

"How many of those jackets do you have in your closet?"

"Enough to last me." He shrugged, meandering over to her desk so he could lean on it, staring down at her with arms crossed over his chest. "Why do you gotta work?"

"Why does anybody work?"

"I mean, if you wanna see that tree why are you stuck in here? It's empty!"

"Someone could come in any time, you of all people should know that."

"C'mon, I remember you talking about wanting to see that tree for a whole week. I've never heard you talk about something that much."

"Well.. I know, but work is important, and if I'm going to be the next vault physician then I need to have all the experience I can get."

"God you're a bore." He droned on playfully as he leaned back, intentionally bumping into her terminal. "Can't you just ditch work for once?"

"Um, _no_."

"Why? You're livin' with a stick up your ass and that ain't a good way to live life."

"Because this job is importa-"

"There ain't anybody in here! Important my ass. It's one day."

"No."

"Aw come on." He jumped to his feet and reached over to her immediately, snatching her hands away from the keyboard as quick as could be and yanked her right out of her chair. "Just for a little while and if someone comes in just blame me."

"..._Fine_, but only for a little while, okay?"

"Yeah yeah, got you." He grinned mischievously as he backed out of the room, watching her with a keen eye to make sure she wouldn't just lock him out.

Nervously, Janis peered over her shoulder. "Well can we hurry up and get out of here? I don't want my dad to see us leave."

When the door slid behind them with a hiss Janis let out a shaky sigh. "I've never skipped out on work before."

"Well I mean don't go makin' it a habit or nothin'."

"I wont." She reassured him as they began to pace down the hallway toward the large atrium. When they arrived a volunteer told them the kids decided on taking a break because apparently choosing which decorations to put on the tree was too hard for them all to handle at once, so Janis was left with quite the dilemma. "I ditched work for nothing."

Whipping out a cigarette and lighting it, he shook his head at her as he blew white smoke out of his mouth. "We can go grab somethin' to eat then."

"Okay, I guess I'm pretty hungry." She had to admit, it felt not being in the clinic any longer. She loved helping people but sometimes she'd self diagnose herself as stir crazy. As most people her age weren't on strict schedules for their jobs just yet, as a lot of them were training (which she still was). She understood why Butch liked to skip out on work every now and then.

"Tell me about the bb gun. What's it like to shoot that thing?" He took a nice long drag from his cigarette, curiosity written all over his face.

She shrugged. "It's pretty satisfying. I'm a pretty good shot if I do say so myself. I bet I'll by giving you a run for your money."

"Oh pfft, yeah right. It's gonna come naturally to me, just you wait n' see."

They bickered until they paced into the diner, which was still oddly packed even after most shifts were picking back up again. It was time like these Janis was glad food service got extended during the holidays. She glanced over to Butch's 'claimed' booth to notice Freddie and Paul were already set up there, chattering about, Paul lazily scratching the surface of the carved snake with his index nail. When Freddie spotted their 'leader,' he shot him a half nod.

"You get that stab wound all fixed up?"

"It ain't a stab wound, he barely grazed me." Butch scoffed as he stuffed the lit end of the cigarette to the table top. "Don't go glorifying the guy, cos' he ain't nothin' more than a loser." Janis stifled a laugh - it was a stab wound for sure, and since Wally wasn't brought into the clinic right after Butch she guessed Butch didn't get a hit in. "Anyways, I'm gonna go grab some food." And with that he pushed past some people until he got into the front of the line, to which Janis followed suit and stood beside him, studying the chalkboard menu.

"Why aren't you sitting? I know what you like to eat."

"Because I'm not sitting with them by myself."

"Oh come on, you know Paul ain't that bad and Freddie's just plain stupid and couldn't hurt a fly." Well he was right, at least for Paul that was. Ever since him confessing up to being mean to her on her tenth birthday party he'd been somewhat better around her, only when Butch wasn't around. Nonetheless he was still a pain, and Freddie? Well she prescribed his medicine so she knew there was an awkward tension between them.

She shrugged. "Still." She lingered around with Butch after he placed their order, listening in as he forcefully pried the red cap off his bottle of cola and take a large gulp from it. Through the main door of the diner a rush of people flooded in and crammed into the small space, making a completely uneven line for the ordering station. Once their tray was placed on the counter and the small green light followed with a ding shone before them, Butch swiped the tray as quick as he could and shoved his way passed everyone once again.

Butch took his seat in the middle of the round booth, right in the center, where the '_Serpent King_' belongs so he could see everyone, both Freddie and Paul on his left while his whole right was open. Silently, she took a seat on his right, not fully feeling as comfortable as she should have been, as she hadn't adjusted well with Paul or Freddie yet. Just as silently as she sat down she snatched her food off the tray and unwrapped the silver gleaming tinfoil off it's delicious innards, revealing a marvelous looking burger. The three boys began to chat about and bicker while Janis stayed relatively silent, that was, until Paul looked her dead in the eyes. _This is it_.

"So, Janis, you're working full time at the clinic, right?" He questioned as he leaned back against the white leather of the booth seats, raising a brow at her.

She quickly wiped her mouth with her napkin, nodding along to his words. "Yeah, why?"

"My dad had an appointment the other day, but he don't really talk much about his health, I don't know if it's cause he's really sick or what. Just tell me if he's doing alright."

Well, that's not what she was expecting at all. She remembered his appointment exactly. "He's fine, he came in for a mandatory officer check up was all."

Paul nodded with a slight smile. "Alright, good." Again, the three boys returned to talking about their switchblades, which set off Butch, since he then looked visibly grumpier as he spoke about his own Toothpick's demise.

She felt pretty lonely, until... Amata! She only saw her friend for a moment in the thicket of the people still lined up, but she looked as if she had hoped for a seat - but of course the diner never had readily available seats so she looked pretty disheartened. Janis frantically waved over at her, motioning for her to come over to the booth.

When she made her way over she noticed the boys in deep conversation and squinted at Janis, giving her head a slight shake.

"Oh come on." She motioned again and smiled deviously when Amata sighed and nervously took a seat beside her best friend, the guys falling silent for a brief moment before returning to their Wally smack talk.

"Do you have any more room to move over?"

"Oh, yeah hold on.." Janis scooted over as much as she could, until her left leg was up right against Butch's right leg, which he paid no mind to, as their heated discussion took on a whole new level. "That good?"

"Yeah, thanks."

As the two girls talked and the three guys fought, the lights in the diner dimmed somewhat, as the Jukebox began to play off of the vaults only Christmas album. This was also something she'd been waiting for. Now it felt truly Christmasy, as just the tune of the song Here Comes Santa Clause by Dorris Day came on made her feel especially happy. "This is what I love!" She explained to Amata with the biggest, happiest grimace on her face, staring at her reflection in the golden christmas bulb that was decorating the fir trim on the walls. Everyone in their booth sat back against the booth wall with a content smile, the smell of peppermint wafting in the air as some baking was delivered. It was a wonderful aura in the diner, with the gentle buzz, the smell, the decorations, the music, and oddly enough, the people around her. Too bad the intoxicating smell of peppermint faded away, as the heavy smell of Butch's aftershave filled her nostrils.

He didn't pull away when she involuntarily clasped his hand under the table, and even though it wasn't really something she planned on doing, she was glad. It made her even more glad that he didn't comment on it, acting like it was a natural thing, while on the outside he still continued his talk with his friends, everyone unaware.

After they left the diner they didn't speak about it once.

..

That Sunday, Butch woke up surprisingly early, eager to get to Janis' BB gun. Since she'd taken over half of his bed he gently nudged her with his elbow once his alarm ran, pulling himself from the bed with a slight yawn. "Get up, will you? Don't make me dump water on your face."

She groaned from inside her blankets. "Why this early? We have the whole day off."

He scoffed as he rummaged through his dresser. "Yeah - the whole day devoted to that BB gun. So up you get." With that, he left the bedroom and took over the bathroom. Once she heard the shower head turn on she darted out of bed, getting dressed in a flash.

Why did she want to get out of bed so quickly? Well. She heaved the mattress up and there it was - Butch's beloved Toothpick. She picked it up and swung it around between her fingers with a satisfied smirk on her face - living with Butch was really starting to change her, as she didn't just politely ask Officer Wolfe for this back. Being the Overseers daughter, Amata had access to pretty much every room, and asked Janis while they were hanging out to check on something with her - which just so happened to be in the jail quadrant. So they strolled in and on Chief Hannon's desk was a large cardboard box with the words 'do not return' written on the front with black sharpie. She didn't know why in the world she did it, but she took a peek in and saw Butch's beloved blade, and like gripping his hand under the table, she just went for it and snatched the thing right from the box. She pocketed it immediately and in the corner of her eye she saw another switchblade with the initials WM scrawled on the side... She left it in there.

Janis was actually quite proud of herself that she had the gall to steal something that essentially belonged to the Overseer, as that box was usually emptied out into the incinerator. It was an exhilarating rush of adrenaline but once that died down she grew paranoid and anxious, immediately stuffing the thing beneath her side of the mattress before somebody saw it poking out from her pocket. With a sly smile, she slid it into her boot and continued with her morning rituals.

About forty five minutes later, Butch finally exited the bathroom coolly with a smirk on his face. "I'm ready when you are." He stuffed a hand into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it quickly. "So where's it at anyways?"

"The rifle's back at my dads apartment, and the range is in the generator room." She stood from the couch and set her book to the side table, combing her fingers through her hair. "I'm ready."

The two left their apartment, locking it behind them, and made their way toward James' apartment, which Janis thanked herself for keeping her key card in. She swiped it and jogged inside, heaving her old mattress up to reveal the old brown rifle and a few tins of 50 BB's ready for her use. She stuffed the small tins into her pockets and returned with the rifle hidden by her side. "We're going to have to be careful, I don't want to get caught."

"Yeah yeah." He muttered with a grin, pulled the gun right out of her hands to inspect it, a fierce glimmer in his eyes. "Let's go."

When they skillfully arrived at the generator room, Butch let out a gasp of awe when he finally laid eyes on the three round shooting targets at the end of the room, a big flashy smile on his face - he looked like a little boy. As Janis sat against the left side of the wall, he crouched beside her and began to load the small round pellets into the gun, anticipation written all over his face.

"Do you know how to work it?"

"I've hung out with Wally back when he was in weapon training, so if it ain't too different than a real gun then I think I'm good." He smirked, standing up tall and pacing over to the middle of the room, tinkering with the old thing for a moment before lifting it up. She watched as he licked his lips, and what he probably didn't even notice was when he began to concentrate his tongue stuck out a little bit, eyes narrowing as he stared through the sight. His finger squeezed the trigger slowly and a small high pitched ding filled their ears, following by the small sound of impact on the sign. "Haha! Look I did it!"

She let out a small chuckle as she nodded. "Looks like you did." Well she had to be honest, she missed her first shot - but it wasn't long after that she killed a radroach! "Heh, if you're lucky maybe you'll get a radroach to kill."

He jerked his head to the side. "Wait, what?"

"... A radroach? One of them appeared on my birthday when I first started shooting."

"I-I didn't know those fuckers were down 'ere." He lowered the rifle a tad.

"Well where else would they be? They're always lurking around down here." She smirked. "Don't worry, they can only come from that direction and it's gated off."

"I ain't worried!" He barked, raising the gun to perfect height and shot a bb right into the middle of the target. "Hehe, I ain't afraid of nothin.'"

_Sure_. She shook her head as she crossed her legs, watching him intently as he continued to empty the BB's to the other side of the room. "You're pretty good."

"Of course I am, I'm the Butch-man!" He swaggered on over with a triumphant grin on his face, sitting right beside her so he could lean against the wall behind them. He fiddled with the gun, memorizing every little detail, and Janis took that as her time.

"I got you something." She stated as she pulled the blade out of her boot, making sure not to ruin the surprise. This piqued his interest, as his head snapped up and he eyed her rather suspiciously. "I was going to give it to you later, but I didn't want to hold onto it for that long." With a flick of her wrist, she unsheathed the blade right in front of his face, his big blue eyes going cross eyes for a moment for shock filled his entire being, his grabby hands coming out and nabbing the thing.

"My Toothpick!" He bellowed, holding it close to his face to inspect it. "It's the real thing!" He made sure there were no new scratch's on it, well, besides the etched in snake on the blade. He looked utterly prideful, impressed, grateful, happy.. The list could go on. He looked right at her. "How'd you manage to get it?!"

She shrugged with a small hearty laugh. "I don't really know what came over me, I was in the jail quadrant and it was on Chief Hannons desk... I just took it! Though I'll have to be honest, you're probably going to be blamed for this. Hmph, didn't really think this through."

"I can't believe you did that for me! 'Nd I never thought you'd have that in you!"

"I didn't either, believe me.." Silence fell over them, and it only took one second of chance eye-locking for them to close_ the_ distance - and this time, it wasn't something to be blown off. Before when he kissed it her was because his mother got better, it was like a _hey thanks a bunch for saving my mom, you're a good friend_ type of thing, like a big ol' joke.. But this? 'Good friends' don't kiss like that, and that's why her face felt like it was on fire once they both pulled away.

Once again they were enveloped in silence, both of them not knowing exactly what to say in a moment like this, but like everything she'd been doing as of recently, she said something without thinking of it first.

"_You mean a lot to me.. You know that_?"

* * *

_wowie, long chappie. Did you guys like it? yes/no? Also happy thanksgiving for the Canadians out there! _

_Thanks for the continued support! love you guys!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Project Procreation_

_14_

* * *

"Well, took you long enough."

"..Yeah - wait what?" Janis snapped her head up and squinted at Butch as he took to his feet, still toying around with the rifle in his hands before aiming it back down the hallway. _It took me long enough_? "What does that mean?" She was expecting something nice to come from his mouth, but instead she got the ridiculously sassy remark. Not to mention she wasn't staring at him but into the eyes of the snake sewn onto his back. When he shrugged she rolled her eyes.

"Well I mean come on, I said that how long ago?" He smirked as he loaded more BB's into the rifle one by one.

She pursed her lips together. "I didn't think you meant it, actually." She stated matter-of-factly, bringing her knees up to her chest as he unloaded a shot that just barely scraped by the target. He loaded up another one, and by this time Janis knew he was using the rifle as an escape from a personal talk she was trying to have with him. She didn't blame him though, he didn't have a lot of experience on connecting with people on a personal level. She puckered her lips as he put his primary focus on shooting. "You could at least have the decency to reply, I don't care if you wanna shoot but.."

"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it." He gave her a side glance as he brought the scope to eye level. "And I ain't no liar."

Well, she supposed that was good enough, for she knew that was all she was gonna get out of him for the time being. So she let out a small sigh as she leaned back against the wall behind her and watched him intently._ Maybe he does have a point_. She thought as she found herself in a distant reverie. She thought he only said that in an attempt to get into her pants quicker - well, technically it did work - but if he's still sticking to his word about what he said in the heat of the moment, then that must mean something. Who would of thought that half a year after the treacherous plan that was put into motion that this is where she'd be.

When the third shot in a row just barely grazed the edge of the round target at the end of the hall, Janis raised a brow. "Three in a row?"

"H-hey!" He steadied himself with a puff of angry air, looking sharply through the scope. "I'm just feelin' pressured with you here is all."

"You were doing fine earlier so I really doubt that." She smirked as she changed positions and sat cross legged, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. He turned and squinted at her, a not so smug look on his face.

"Yeah - whatever!" He waved her off, squared his jaw, pointed the gun toward the target and fired - effectively missing the target completely. So with an embarrassed aura now surrounding him, he turned back around with the same embarrassment plastered on his face. "Well now it's cos you pointed it out to me!" Butch was almost always so easy to read. Back when he was younger and till now you would _know_ when he was angry, annoyed, happy, the words. So it wasn't much of a difference now, as he was embarrassed, trying and failing to act calm and collected, but in reality, he was a little taken back looking and his cheeks were just the tinier bit red.

"Look." She stood up with a small smile and snatched the rifle right out of his hands. After the extensive years of hiding out in this generator room from the very person she was with, she felt a sudden urge to show off her honed shooting skills, since, well, he wasn't very skilled. Beginners luck is what she coined it as. She held the rifle the proper way as Butch crossed his arms over his chest, watching her prep the gun with intent eyes, and as she squinted into the scope, he blew the small tuft of hair off his face. In a split second, she pulled the trigger down and the pellet skyrocketed toward the target, hitting the red circle, on point in the middle. She grimaced and pulled it again, and again, and again - all times she shot it perfectly. "That's how you do it." With a smug grin, she shoved the rifle back into his arms. "There's only a few pellets left, so you gotta hurry and back up your big words."

"I don't gotta back anything up." He held the gun awkwardly, losing the tough look he once donned before he lost his confidence.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay then." But she smiled on the inside, because she knew from when he first started shooting that he was pretty decent in the field, but when that whole conversation went down, his skills drastically lowered. It was obvious the pressure was on. "So does that mean you're done shooting then? I thought you were going to go for the entire day."

"Well now I'm bored of it." He stated with a regained confidence as he set the rifle against a metal crate and fished his cigarette pack out of his pocket. He lit it with his metal zippo, waved it around in the air for a moment before placing it between his lips. Janis never thought she was ever going to kiss a smoker, _ever_. But she wasn't one to complain.

..

The holidays were supposed to be a happy, joyous time of the year. For Janis, this was still the case, as she couldn't pinpoint anything bad happening in her life at the moment. But for a lot of the unhappy souls that found themselves trapped within the confinements of this vault, the holidays were a sour reminder of the things they don't have in life, whether that be family or the finds to provide for family. With that being said, the time span from the 12th of December till the end of December, Janis and James were on high alert, as this time period was oftentimes known for its high suicide rate.

So the day of Christmas Eve, Janis was practically overjoyed when her father told her she wouldn't have to stay in the clinic for Christmas day. She'd never had a proper Christmas day, as her father was always with patients in the clinic, so she'd either just sit in the atrium with the big tree, or hang around the clinic till closing hours and have a small dinner. She wasn't too peeved that she'd be spending another Christmas day alone because just the other day, Butch had announced that even though her possible Christmas off would be spent with him and his mother, since Ellen was absolutely prying him to get her over. She'd told him maybe, depending on whether her father wanted her to train some more or not.

It was around lunchtime now, so her alarm in the clinic began to buzz. She knew she'd find him in the diner today, since there were a few worthwhile things going on in there. So she signed out and practically skipped on over to the almost flooded-with-people diner. Peering in she saw the regular booth occupied by the only people she wanted to see there - if they were just regular vault people she'd really have no point in even trying to get something from the diner. So she shoved her way past some angered patrons and slid into the booth.

"Huh, thought you weren't comin' today." He mentioned as he leaned back in the booth, eying her casually as he wrapped his fingers around the cold glass bottle of cola.

She shrugged. "I didn't think so either, but the clinic is pretty bare right now. My dad gave me the day off tomorrow, so you wont have to stage some absurd accident like you were planning on." The accident being her getting 'seriously injured' so she didn't have to clock in. Yep, he was quite the mastermind.

"Great, cos my mom's been naggin' me everyday to get you to come." All around the table were discarded wrappers, empty bottles, a lot more extra food left, and a newly scratched in design of multiple knives behind the snake. She saw what she wanted, a regular old burger still wrapped in pristine tinfoil and reached over for it.

If Janis ever thought the diner couldn't be more jam-packed and full of activity - she was completely wrong. With Christmas lurking just around the corner every vault citizen had suddenly gotten into the Christmas spirit, taking their family and friendly fun to the diner. The booths were jam packed, the lineup at the ordering station was pouring into the hallway, but the best part? It seemed Ms. Palmer had spent a lot of time baking the horde of pastry up in the front, emitting the most delicious aroma Janis had ever smelled in this vault. She was used to smelling sterilizer and Butch's aftershave and pomade AND cigarette smoke, so this heart warming smell of peppermint and cake rejuvenated her completely.

She ate silently as she studied the diner with big happy hazel eyes. The lightbulbs had been changed about a week ago to the colored ones, red to be specific, so there was a nice hue to the room as Andy turned the dial and the dimmed the lights. The golden, silver and red bulbs that hung off sparkled underneath the red lights. _It really feels like Christmas now_. Hell, it almost felt romantic, the the darkened lights with the red hue, it truly felt like something out of the old movies. She glanced over at Butch, who had his neck craned so he could see the overhead TV that was playing a seriously overplayed Christmas movie. She wasn't too sure where they were at right now, even though they've had a full two weeks to talk it over, he just wasn't feeling it, essentially meaning he either wanted her to initiate a talk or just go with the flow. They weren't awkward with each other at all after that, they shared some laughs normally, he had to re-teach her how to use the curling iron after she fell out of the habit of using it every morning, but nothing along the lines of_ something else_. She even expected something to happen when they shared the bed that night but nothing - he was asleep immediately. She never thought he'd be the one that was playing hard to get.

After she finished her delicious greasy food she of course found herself the thing she knew would be her downfall. A perfectly sized, still warm, sweet roll, and it donned the perfect amount of icing. When she sat down Butch got up and fetched himself a sweet roll, so when he sat back down she raised a brow at him. "You could have just asked me to grab you one."

"Psh, I don't trust you with my food no more." He smirked as he took a large bite out of his sweet roll. "'Fraid you're gonna spit on it. "

"That was eight years ago." She rolled her eyes playfully. "If I held grudges like you do we wouldn't be here right now."

"Who can resist this mug, huh? You're just soft."

Not too long after Paul and Freddie had made their way into the diner and slid into the booth, and when Janis thought she was going to grow bored, she spotted Amata hanging around the bar area chatting with someone. She stealthily left the booth and meandered over to the bar, getting a few hellos as she leaned against the counter beside Amata.

"All of this delicious food and I can't even keep it down. I know I keep telling you this but I know I'm supposed to be properly nourished since I'm eating for two but I swear, nothing will stay down." Amata sighed with a slight shake of her head, those Santa and reindeer shaped cookies taunting her from the other side of the room. Janis chuckled with a small smile.

"It's perfectly normal." Janis thanked Andy for the glass bottle of cola and screwed open the cap. "So what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Well usually me and my dad would head over to the Chapel and light a candle for my mother, but Gloria and Allen invited us over for Christmas dinner. As if that wont be awkward. I know they're only inviting us over so they can try and weasel their way into not having a hyphenated name for the baby. They're sneaky."

"Jeez, really?"

"Yeah, I mean those Mack's are all business. I'll be honest, I'd rather hang around with just my dad all day." She sipped at her ice water with another sigh. "How about you? Another Christmas spent at the clinic?"

"Actually, for the first time in forever, I'm not wasting my Christmas around sick people." Amata raised a brow. "Ellen invited me over for Christmas and my dad gave me the day off, so I'll finally be doing something different."

"Oh that's sweet. I like how she actually counts you as part of the family, and not just some walking womb or something."

"Yeah, I didn't really think of it that way - though I think that Ellen is expecting that."

Feeling a little more rebellious than she usually felt, she decided against going back to the clinic right away - as the aura in this diner made her feel the Christmas spirit like no other time. But as the time passed Janis noted she had to leave for her appointment, so she paced back over to the gang owned booth. It was Ellen's last appointment for about a month and as Butch always said, he wanted to be present for each and every single one of those, so when they locked eyes he said his goodbye's to his pals before catching up with her.

They silently paced through the halls together and stopped when they both looked up to the archway that connected with a ceiling. The archway got their attention initially, as it had a ridiculous amount of red fake fir trim lining it from the ground and all around until the other point that connected to the ground. Janis knew what this was and she wanted to avoid these hallways all together but it seemed fate had another plan, deciding that a mistletoe in their paths would be wonderful.

"Oh, will you look at that?" Butch extended his arm out so it cut her off, slapping his hand against the metal wall to her left. "A mistletoe."

"Yes, I see that." She wondered if he intentionally brought her down this hall or not. Whether that was true or not, she didn't object at all, as she backed up against the wall. Well, he may be a smoker, but she definitely did not mind kissing him.

..

When she woke up, Janis was so happy it wasn't because Butch elbowed her in the face while he was sleeping. She felt giddy this morning, as she did every Christmas morning, but knowing she wasn't going to be treating people? That alone made her day complete. She wiggled around in bed for a few moments before climbing out of bed and stretching out her still sleepy limbs, watching as Butch tossed in bed as he slept.

She quietly chuckled to herself as she padded over to the box on her side of the bed, where she still kept her clothes. "Now I get to shower in the morning, hehehe."

"No you don't." He mumbled from atop the bed. She snapped her head up in shock, immediately gathered her things, and leaped out of the room, just narrowly missing Butch's outstretched arm. "Hey! I needa get ready!"

"So do I!" She called out before letting the bathroom door slid closed behind her with a laugh. "Finally." The amount of joy she got from this may be appalling to others, but now, because she woke up before him, she got the good hot water! Not the leftover, half luke warm, half freezing cold water, all thanks to Butch. She stripped and showered happily, taking a nice long one too, and when she stepped out of the bathroom Butch huffed his way past her and inside.

When she finished her breakfast is when Butch finally exited the bathroom, hair styled and all. "So." Janis began as he rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a milk carton. "Is your mom cooking?"

"'Parently." He began to guzzle down the milk straight from the carton.

"Is she any good?"

"Dunno, she's never cooked in my life. Might be shitty, might be good, who knows." He shrugged as he then ate two slices of plain white bread in an instant.

When they locked the apartment behind them and began to walk down the hallway, Butch stopped midway through and tugged on the sleeve of her jumper. "I need to tell you somethin.'"

She stopped in her tracks and gave him a slight nod. "Yeah, what's up?" She felt a tinge of concern, as he didn't have a smirk on his face, but instead, a serious look - which meant something heavy was on his mind.

"It's pretty much known my mom's gonna die soon, right?" He waited until she nodded in slight confusion to continue. "I just wanna make her happy, so play along."

"Play along to what?" She raised a brow as she jogged to catch up to him when he started walking again, and crashed when she failed to realize how close to the apartment door they were. Instead of answering her question he laughed as she bonked her head against the metal door. So as he knocked to get his mothers attention she slowly rubbed her temple with her middle and index finger. "Today's going to be a long day..."

When the door in front of them slid open, a waft of delicious smelling food escaped, welcoming them right in. Never had she had a proper Christmas dinner! She stepped in alongside Butch, who was immediately engulfed in a hug from Ellen - and of course, who then went right to Janis and enveloped her in a warm hug. "It smells great in here!" She could already differentiate the smells in there - the most prominent one being the turkey in the oven.

"That's good to hear, I've been up for hours trying to get all of this ready." She smiled broadly as she stepped aside to let them inside, wiping her hands on the white apron tied around her waist. Butch raised a brow.

"I didn't even think you could boil water." Butch admitted as he lounged on the sofa, kicking his legs out as he watched his mother stroll back into the kitchen. When Ellen was focused on washing the potatoes in the sink Butch looked back at Janis, patting the empty seat beside him. When Janis obliged and sat beside him, she leaned in and squinted at him.

"Play along to what exactly?"

"Just wait, kay?" He turned his head to look back into the kitchen. "So, how'd you even learn all this stuff?"

"I got a dinner cookbook from the library." She smiled as she then began to peel the brown, rough skin from the potatoes. "I read it day in and day out so I could get this right."

"Seems like alotta work for just one dinner." He scoffed as he set his heels on the coffee table, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Well, that's because you've never had a proper Christmas dinner I guess. If there's one thing I want to do before my time comes is give you a good dinner."

A few hours later, Ellen had announced their Christmas dinner was ready. She stepped aside proudly as Butch made his way into the kitchen, grabbing three glass plates from the overhead cabinet, handing one to Ellen and one to Janis - but he wasn't the most politest, meaning he didn't wait for them to serve themselves first, diving right into the food. Ellen had made a plethora of foods - stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed yam potatoes, peas, cranberry sauce, and Brussels sprouts. Janis scooped as much of it as she could onto her plate - the days where she'd eat burgers and noodles all day long were over, at least for now, since she'd never had a nice home cooked meal in a very long time.

Excitedly, Janis took her seat beside Butch on the couch, her mouth watering like never before - forget sweetrolls, this was the real thing. She politely waited as Ellen said Grace, and once that was finished, everybody dug in._ So this is what a real Christmas dinner is like_! It was delicious! The meat was succulent, the potatoes were puffy and delicious, especially soaked in the brown gravy, and the stuffing had the right amount of spices added to it. "Ellen, this is delicious!"

"Yeah mom, s'pretty good." He said through a mouthful of food, but she took it with a gracious smile.

"Yeah it is pretty good." Ellen agreed as she cut herself another little slice of turkey and bit into it. "So how are you guys? I was so busy cooking I never got the chance to ask."

Butch thickly swallowed the food that was in his mouth before answering that question. "Janis is gonna pop out a baby soon." When both of the women in the room snapped their heads in his direction, Butch first looked at Janis and smirked, then nodded at his mom. "Yup, she told me the other day."

_Are you kidding me_. She deadpanned. _I should have known that's what he was going to do_! She blinked furiously within the few moments it took for Ellen to jump to her feet and engulfed her in a hug, that's when Janis knew she had to get into 'character.' As Ellen squeezed her to absolute death, Janis sneered at Butch over the woman's shoulder, shooting him a death glare but as soon as Ellen pulled away she was just that sweet girl.

"I-I can't believe this! This is amazing news!" The woman gawked with the largest smile Janis had ever seen on her face, giving Janis' shoulders a gentle squeeze as she looked at Butch for a brief moment. "I'm so happy!" When she finally returned to her seat on the chair she stared at the two eagerly. "Well? How far along are you?"

Janis put on a big, fake, flashy smile. "About a month." _If Butch had told me we were going to play house I would have been prepared_! Did she feel bad about lying to Ellen about this? Sure as hell she did. She never was one for lying, not because she couldn't hold a straight face through it, but because she actually had a conscience, unlike Butch it seemed, so afterwards she'd feel like a scumbag. It did help knowing that although she was lying right to her face, in the end it was for a good reason. So if it made Ellen happy she'd be glad to lie about this.

"Oh wow!" She gushed ecstatically as she clapped her hands together, tears brimming at her eyelids. "I'm just so stunned..! You know, I doubt I'll be around when the time comes for the baby to be born, so I want to be kept up to date with everything! I didn't think you'd ever say those words to me, Butchie!"

"Yeah, I didn't think so either, but Janis wanted one _so_ bad." He looked at her with a gutsy smirk - a smirk she just wanted to slap right off his face right about now. He continued to stuff his face.

"_So bad_." Janis agreed to those words with a big smile on her face and a great big nod of her head. "I just couldn't wait."

"Oh I just wish I could be here.."

"You'll be watchin' it from Heaven so no big deal, okay?"

She nodded to his words as she stared down at her plate with sullen eyes. She managed to create a small smile on her face. "Yeah, that's true."

After Ellen had given Janis the mightiest squeeze she could muster and gave Butch giant kisses all over his face, the three said goodbye. Once that front door slid closed, Janis gave Butch a nice big punch on his upper left arm .

"Oh, I _wanted one so bad_." She teased, pushing him away from her playfully. "The things you come up with, I swear!"

He lightly chuckled as he lit a cig. "You're a good actor, you know that."

"Well what was I going to do? I couldn't just call you out on it! 'Pop a baby out', my God.. You should have just told me in the beginning so I could have had time to get my facts straight."

"Didn't think you'd be up for it. Lyin' ain't something a goody two shoes does last I checked." He blew some smoked into her face.

"We're going to have to keep this up though, if you didn't think of that." She stated as she fished her key out of her pocket and stuck it into the lock. He entered into their apartment first and shrugged with a grin.

"She ain't gonna be buggin' me about it, she'll be all over you."

"Yeah, thanks for that.." She tossed the key to the couch's sidetable and lounged around on the couch for a bit - now she finally understood when people said turkey makes you feel incredibly tired. Her body felt like a millions pounds. "Hey.. You know, usually I would think that lying like that wasn't a nice thing to do.. But, seeing how happy it made her changed my mind. It was a nice thing in the end."

He stayed quiet for a moment before shaking it off and smirking like an idiot. "Don't go all sentimental and crap on me now."

"Mhm~ Merry Christmas Butch."

"Yeah yeah, Merry Christmas to you too."

* * *

_Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! I'm sorry if this chapter isn't up to par, but my friend passed away yesterday my mind wasn't really with me while I was editing this chapter! So sorry for that ! _

_Thanks for all the support! Love you guys a ton! _


End file.
